Flight of the Shadow Lord Dragon
by mrjop2
Summary: The arrival of a mythical dragons bring a legendary Viking Chief and an group of his top Viking warriors to Berk. While the chief wants to slay the dragon, another warrior is more interested in controlling it to make himself the most feared Viking of all.
1. Dragon Training

**Chapter 1: Dragon Training**

There was a time where befriending a dragon was cause for one to be banished from the tribe. It was pretty much a law that did not need to be said; for Vikings and dragons had been at war for many generations. No one really remembered how the war started, but how it ended was a different matter, altogether.

Just a few months ago, things began to change thanks to an unassuming young boy named Hiccup. He was the epitome of everything a Viking was not. He was a scrawny boy, whose demeanor would not even intimidate a fly. He was more of the type to be ignored by everyone in the village. Plagued by an acute case of ineptness, he was once seen as the embarrassment of Berk. No matter what the boy did, trouble was never far behind.

The problem was that he had tried too hard to fit in as a dragon killer. All he really wanted was to be treated with respect, just like everyone else, instead of being treated as…well, a hiccup. He was tired of being treated like he was worthless. Yes, he may not be your beefy, gritty, typical Viking, but what he lacked in muscle, he made up for with intelligence. Unfortunately, at that time, strength was more impressive than smarts.

However, Life provided something even better for the boy; although at first, it hardly seemed better. Hiccup's quest to kill a dragon brought him across Toothless. Toothless was a Night Fury; a very rare breed of dragon. Unmatched in it's speed, and stealth-like maneuvers, the Viking's of Berk once feared it over any other dragon breed. Hiccup, on the other hand, found Toothless to be the most exotic dragon of them all.

When they first met, it was after Hiccup had shot him down with his bola shooting invention. Toothless was ensnared by the bola, which cost the dragon half of it's tail fin. When faced with the opportunity to kill the dragon, and gain the respect he long desired, he could not bring himself to do it. He released the dragon from the Bola, but it could not fly due to the damage to his tail fin.

As Hiccup built his saddle and artificial fin, he learned the truth about dragons. He learned that they were not the mindless, violent creatures that all the Vikings made them out to be. They were actually quite friendly creatures who shared very similar human characteristics. After he and Toothless took on the dragon queen, which the Vikings later named the Red Death, the dragons had become more like pets. He had opened the eyes of his tribe to this fact, and now they lived together in harmony.

In that battle with that enormous dragon, Hiccup had lost his left foot up to just past the shin. Now, he and Toothless were nearly identical. The two of them depended on each other through thick and thin. They were highly respected in all of Berk; so much so that he had been put in charge of retraining the older Vikings about dragons as well as training young, new ones.

It was not easy training some of the more stubborn Vikings; a generation of misinformation was very hard to overcome. There was more to it than just training them how to fly on dragons; it was learning how to communicate with the creatures. They had to get it out of their minds that dragons were not dumb animals; in many ways, many of the species were actually smarter than they were.

That, of course, depended on the breed. The Gronckles were probably the least intelligent of the dragon breeds that they knew of. On the higher of the scale, next to Night Furies, the Monstrous Nightmare was perhaps the smartest breed, followed by the Deadly Nadder.

On sunny days like this one, Hiccup liked to demonstrate communicating with the dragon. The best way to do so was to take Toothless for a ride, and that is what he did on this day. Flying high overhead, they rip through the sky with great speed and agility. "Okay toothless, it's time to give them a show. Are you ready?"

Toothless gave an affirmative growl, clearly excited about what they were going to do. Down below, the three adult Vikings looked like specs inside the small canyon. That canyon was the very one that Toothless was trapped in before Hiccup had made the artificial tail fin for him. It was also where he hid the dragon from his Vikings while attending dragon training. It seemed to be the best, most opened area to be able to train his fellow Vikings.

"Let's do it!" Hiccup used his artificial foot to press down on the Pedal, to expand the manufactured fin. He pulled up on the reins and Toothless pulled upward to climb higher and higher into the sky. The second the air started to become thin, he used his reins to pass on the command to dive. Unnecessarily, he also gave the command verbally. "Let's dive!"

Toothless arched his back, folded his wings back, and pulled forward to dive downward as fast he could. "Okay, let's spin!"

As Toothless dived towards the ground, he began to spiral rapidly. Hiccup could remember his first time doing this trick; he had become so dizzy, that he nearly lost his lunch. Over time, he had been able to adjust how long he was capable of handling it before the sensation of nausea settled in. He learned how much his body could take, and when it was nearing it's end.

Just as the moment was arriving, he pulled on the reins and Toothless stopped the spiraling. Another tug on the reins, and Toothless pulled his head back and expanded his wings to break out of the dive. The pond in the canyon was quickly approaching as the Night Fury successfully pulled out of the dive just feet away from crashing and again climbed upward. For the brief second, Hiccup could hear the Vikings cheering him on.

"Okay Toothless, let's do a loop before we land."

That's exactly what Toothless did, as he did one large loop over their heads before he came in for a soft landing in front of three Vikings. Hiccup nearly stumbled out of the saddle; he was still having troubles getting his artificial foot to unlatch from the pedal. He was going to have to make adjustments to it sometime soon.

The Vikings did not seem to notice his small mishap; they were all still cheering for the demonstration that he gave. "It's really, rather simple," Hiccup said to the three Vikings. "Over time, Toothless and I have gotten to the point that we know what the other is thinking. If you make an attempt to do the same with the dragon, you will get along just fine. First though, you have to establish trust."

Hiccup led the three Vikings over to a Monstrous Nightmare that he was able to bring to this canyon. The orange stripped dragon had watched everything happily and lazily, with occasional sips from the pond. As they approached the dragon, he seemed happy to finally be getting attention.

This reaction was a far cry from the reaction Hiccup had gotten with his first encounter with one. Hiccup had to disarm himself of his weapon and helmet to get the dragon to trust him, and that trust was shattered when his father used his mallet to hit the cage. Hiccup never blamed the dragon for trying to kill him after that. That was before the Vikings and the dragons had formed a friendship. It probably did not help matters any by the fact that it had been imprisoned for who knows how long.

"So who wants to pet the dragon first?" Hiccup asked, trying to act as if this was a privilege to be desired. Knowing these three Vikings, he knew that they would not see it that way.

True to form, the three Vikings lost their enthusiasm immediately, and stood there wide-eyed and silent. After a brief pause, one of them sheepishly stepped forward to volunteer. "Don't worry," he assured the volunteer. "He won't bite; just don't make any sudden motions."

Hiccup remembered Snotlout's first time touching a Monstrous Nightmare; his reaction was pretty much the same. Hiccup took the Viking by the wrist and gently places his hand on the dragon's nose. The Dragon instantly began to purr and his eyes lit up with pleasure. The Viking looked back at his friends, proud of his accomplishment.

"Hiccup!" A familiar voice called out. The Viking softly removed his hand, careful not to make any jerky movement, and the dragon turned around and commenced drinking from the pond alongside Toothless.

Hiccup turned to see the woman of his dreams running up to him. Her name was Astrid Hofferson. He had had a crush on her for most of his young life. Only months ago, she, like everyone else, pretty much thought of him as an embarrassment. It was not until he took her on a flight with Toothless and opened her eyes to the truth about dragons, when things started to change between them.

To this day, he could not explain how she could like someone like him. They were polar opposites. He was docile and weak, while she was aggressive and strong. It was those traits about her that attracted him to her. He used to wish that he was anyone but himself, so he could be strong and spectacular to be able to impress her.

Seeing her smile towards him as she walked closer was exciting. Just being around her was the highlight of his day. Her icy-blue eyes were part of her arsenal to show off her strength. They could penetrate anyone's nerves with just the right look. Seldom do they reflect passion. Even towards hiccup, they looked upon him with a mix of the two emotions.

Her eyes painted her round face beautifully, and also complimented her golden hair. She kept her hair braided into a ponytail n the back, and had long golden bangs that covered the left side of her forehead. The rest of her hair was neatly tucked under her brown, leather head band. She wore her typical green striped shirt with spiky metal shoulder pads. Her maroon, armored skirt also had spikes all over, and a row of white wooden-carved skulls served as the belt.

"Hiccup, your father needs to see you right away. Something big is going on; he is ordering all the dragons to be removed from the village."

"What? Why?" This news made no sense at all. He thought his father had finally accepted dragons as part of the village. This was going against all the progress that was being made in the last few months.

"I don't know what's going on. I think you should come back to the village now."

"You're right," Hiccup replied. He turned towards the other Vikings, who were trying to mind their own business. "Uh, that's it for today, I suppose."


	2. Preperation

**Chapter 2: Preparation**

Time was very short. Stoick had wished the news had gotten to him sooner. This evening, Berk was to receive a guest of the highest caliber. In preparation for this visit, he had to get this village cleaned up, and fast. Unfortunately, that also meant getting rid of the dragons.

His brother, Spitelout, and his closest friend, Gobber, were helping him direct the Vikings on leading the dragons out of the village. The village was bustling with activity; all in a mad rush to gather the dragons, which proved to be no easy feat without Hiccup.

"Spitelout, take some of the stronger Vikings, and head up to the Highest Point. Gather the Monstrous Nightmares and the Zipplebacks that are gathered up there."

"I'm on it," He replied, running forward to start his search for some of the stronger Vikings on the isle.

Gobber kept up to Stoick's pace awkwardly, despite having a peg for one of his legs. They came across a couple of young Viking men trying to get a few Deadly Nadders to move forward. The dragons looked at them curiously and then continued on ignoring them. Further down, Fishlegs was chasing after a Gronckle with his arms waving franticly. "Gronckle on the loose! Gronckle on the loose! Wo-wo-Whoa!" The Gronckle had escaped from him, and was dragging the end of the rope, which was meant to be the leash, across the ground.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut entered that part of the village, apparently successful in leading their Zippleback in the right direction. However, everything started to go sour when Tuffnut tripped over a rock. Ruffnut bellowed out an exaggerated laugh. "You're such a klutz!"

"What are you talking about?" Tuffnut shot back up onto his feet, and butted heads with his twin sister. "Everyone knows that you are the clumsy one in the family!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!" Ruffnut shoved her brother, which caused him to stumble backwards and to fall onto his backside. "Who's the clumsy one now, Dwarf Puke?"

Their fighting made their dragon unsettled and confused. Stoick sighed as he rubbed his forehead. He was about to address the situation when he noticed his nephew, Snotlout flirting with a young, Viking girl. "So, Gertrude, maybe you want to take a flight with me one of these days. I fly on a Monstrous Nightmare, the deadliest of all the dragons."

The girl seemed less than impressed by his advances. Snotlout had long given up on impressing Astrid. Since his cousin, Hiccup, defeated Red Death a couple of months ago, he knew that there was no way to top that. He began to go after this new girl, Gertrude. She was lovely red-headed Viking girl who was learning to become a baker. She was the first girl, that he had gone after, who was not a warrior Viking.

"Some of the beasts seem to have a mind of their own," Gobber said with a chuckle.

"That's why I need you to get these young Vikings moving. We do not have much time"

"You've got nothing to worry about. I'll make sure those Vikings get the job done."

"Good," Stoick replied. Gobber was his closest friend. When they were younger Vikings, they had fought side-by-side against many dangerous dragons. They always had each other's backs, no matter the circumstances. They had saved each other's lives numerous of times.

Another thing that Gobber did for him, was to help him to lighten up a bit. Stoick was always a seriously focused Viking. Perhaps he had gotten that from his father. His father was preparing him to be chief even before he had his first dragon kill. The way his father trained him was unique and borderline brutal. His father always pointed out his faults and never praised him for anything he did right.

When Stoick became the chief Viking of Berk, things did not go very smoothly, at first. He ruled with his father's brutality. With Gobber's help, he had lightened up quite a bit over the years. Despite his ill-timed dry humor, Gobber was very wise Viking.

When his son, Hiccup, came into the picture, Stoick was as hard on him as his father was on him. He figured that Hiccup would turn out okay just like he did, but things did not end up that way. Their relationship had suffered greatly; the more he tried to force Hiccup to become a Viking warrior, the more the boy failed, and the more distant they became.

So Stoick gave up on the boy; convinced that he will never be a warrior and an adequate heir. That was when Gobber stepped in and took the boy on as an apprentice at the blacksmith shop. There, Hiccup flourished as he proved to be very smart. Stoick was more than willing to settle for his son becoming a blacksmith, but when the boy befriended the Night Fury, everything had changed. Stoick learned that the boy may not be physically strong, but he was more than intelligent enough to be a future Viking chief. It took brains to defeat that dragon queen, where pure might had proven to be useless.

"Hey, Dad!" Hiccup's raspy voice called out to him, interrupting his moment of reflection.

The boy ran up to the two Viking along with his close friend Astrid. She hated to be called anyone's 'girlfriend', and anyone who did would end up getting a black eye. For Viking women, especially those who warrior minded like Astrid, this was a typical phase of growing up. Stoick remembered that his late wife was exactly the same way at Astrid's age. She did not want to feel like anyone's property. She wanted to be looked upon ultimately as a warrior in her own right. She also found the term 'girlfriend' to be highly demeaning.

"Ah, good, son!" Stoick was relieved to see him; his friends were starting to grate on him. Since defeating the Red Death dragon, Hiccup had become much more influential over these young lads.

Gobber waved over Astrid to come with him and let these two talk alone. He also knew that Hiccup was not going to take this news very well. Astrid reluctantly did as instructed and joined him to assist her friends.

"I want you and your friends to take the dragons and hide them as far from the village as possible, and make sure they stay there."

"What's going on, Dad?"

"Ivar the Fearsome is coming to Berk along with two boats of his finest warriors from his village."

"_The_ Ivar the Fearsome?" There was not a Viking in the world that did not know of Ivar the Fearsome; he and the stories of his adventures were legendary. He had seen dragons that few have ever seen or heard of. Legend had it that Ivar had encountered and single-handedly slain a similar dragon to the Red Death.

Hearing that he was coming to Berk brought mixed feelings to Hiccup. The fact that the legendary Viking chief had seen such exotic and mythic creatures was exciting, but the fact that he took it further and killed such rare creatures made him sick to his stomach.

"Yes. We need to hide the beasts during his visit," Stoick said.

"Wh-why would he be coming here? Eh, I mean, why would he be coming to a small village likes ours?"

"We'll find out, now won't we? I want to give him the royal welcome that he deserves. Do you understand, son?"

"Hmm, let me see… You want to get rid of the dragons, and pretend that we still kill them to impress the Viking chief."

"I'm glad you understand." Stoick gave him a hardy slap on the back, which nearly toppled Hiccup to the ground.

"Uh, Dad, I don't understand at all," Hiccup replied. There were several things wrong with this picture. Trying to lie to someone of Ivar's reputation was not only insane, but near impossible. Knowing firsthand what deception of this magnitude required, it was bound to end badly. "Would it be so bad if we just told him the truth?"

"It's not that simple, Hiccup." Stoick replied. His son knew very little about politics. Being chief Vikings meant much more than getting to tell others what to do. Vikings politics was based on traditions. There was one, in particular, that stated that when two Viking chiefs were present at the same village at the same time, the chief with the highest reputation was to be obeyed above all else. In the old Viking tradition, reputation was built by the number and types of dragons killed. Anyway you look at it, that would make Chief Ivar the senior most authority during his stay here at Berk. Stoick's reputation was no where nears that of Ivar's. To try to convince him to stop slaying dragons would be conceived as greatly insulting.

"At least promise me that you will try to get him to see reason," Hiccup pleaded.

Stoick shook his head and grunted. "Fine, I will do my best. But for now, if you value the lives of these dragons, you have to hide them."

"Okay, I'll do it," Hiccup conceded, with the same lack of enthusiasm as he expressed on his face.

* * *

Hiccup found a wonderful, wide open space for all the dragons to stay. It was a large, grassy plane with a lovely stream curving through the field and cutting the field into two. A small waterfall emptied out into the stream; constantly replenishing it with fresh water.

Bringing the dragons here was not hard; it was getting them to stay, which proved to be the challenging part. The dragons had come to enjoy staying in their little village. Some of the dragons had formed a real bond with a Viking, and now being separated from them made the animals edgy and lonely.

In the late hours of the evening, they had finally moved all the dragons out of Berk. Only Hiccup and his group of friends knew exactly where this field was in order to protect the dragons. Snotlout pulled in the last of the animals, and the moment he released it from it's rope-leash, it instantly charged for the stream. "That's the last one!"

"Ah good, now we can head back and get some supper. I'm starving!" Tuffnut said, holding onto his stomach.

Ruffnut, standing next to her twin, narrowed her eyes towards him. "You're always hungry, even after eating five meals a day."

"That's not true! You're the one that's always eating. Just look at us, it's clear that I'm skinnier than you."

Ruffnut clenched her teeth before delivering a lightning fast jab at his nose.

"Ow!" Tuffnut yelped as he covered up his nose.

"This is so exciting! We're finally going to meet Ivar the Fearsome!" Fishlegs exclaimed.

"Yeah, It's so exciting," Hiccup replied sarcastically.

Sensing Hiccups frustration, Astrid placed a hand on his shoulder. "The dragons will be alright here. Everything will work out great; you'll see."

Hiccup wished he could believe her, but something, deep down, inside of him was telling him differently. "You guys go on ahead back. I need a minute with Toothless."

"Okay, then."

His friends made their way back towards the path leading back to Berk. Hiccup could hear Ruffnut and Tuffnut still going at it as they walked off. "I think you broke my nose."

"It's an improvement," Ruffnut responded.

Hiccup turned around to see Toothless ready to head back home. "Toothless, I want you to stay, too."

The Night Fury tilted his head and made a curious moan. The dragon did not fully understand what he was saying. Hiccup turned to head back to the village when Toothless leaped to his side, like an excited puppy.

"No, Toothless!" Hiccup said with a little more force. He held up his hands to get the dragon to stop leaping around.

The dragon stopped, sensing that something was wrong. "You have to stay."

The idea was starting to get through, as Toothless looked at him with a sorrowful look on his face; he was pleading with Hiccup. "I'm sorry, but you have to stay here."

Toothless, looked down, letting out a mournful cry. He took a step closer towards Hiccup, but Hiccup spoke out with more authority. "No! Stay! I will come and visit sometime tomorrow."

The young Viking turned his back on Toothless and made his way back home. As Hiccup walked away, he could hear Toothless cry. The dragon laid down on it's stomach and watched his master leave him. He rested his head on the ground, but kept his wide, mournful eyes on his departing master. Hiccup did not dare to look back, because he knew his heart would be torn by his dragon's plea. He let out a sigh, and remained strong all the way back to the village.

**NEXT CHAPTER COMING 2/16/11 **


	3. Ivar the Fearsome

**Chapter 3: Ivar the Fearsome**

The sun had only just peaked over the horizon when Hiccup joined his father and the other Vikings down at the harbor. As he ran all the way down the mountain, he could see that the boats had arrived precisely on time. The butterflies, in his stomach, were doing laps in full force as he weaved between the husky Vikings of his village to get his father's side.

As he reached his father, the boats were already being unloaded. He did not know how it was possible, but it seemed that the Viking coming off the boats were taller and bulkier than the Vikings of Berk. Now he felt even more like a shrimp in a vast ocean full of sharks.

Of all the men who came off the boats, Hiccup tried to identify which one was the chief. The task proved to be more challenging than he had anticipated; all the Vikings looked the part.

Finally, a stocky, gray-haired Viking stepped off the boat. His gray beard was even bushier than his fathers. Despite his age, he looked as fit as any of the younger Vikings. He had all of his natural limbs; the only deformity that he had was a single scare across his right eye. His Viking helmet had two of the largest horns Hiccup had ever seen. He was surprised that his helmet was able to stay on his head.

The old Viking had authority radiating from his eyes. There was no doubt that this was Ivar the Fearsome. He stepped onto the dock, with one of the largest axes that Hiccup had ever seen. His armor just as unique; it was made of green and black dragon scales. He sported a cape of black fur. There were dragon bones all over his armor as testimony of all the dragons he had slain.

Ivar's eyes narrowed as he looked at Stoick. "Stoick the Vast?"

"Ivar the Fearsome, welcome to Berk!" he said, giving the chief a firm, handshake.

"I have to know; is the rumor true that you killed a Giganticus Maximus?"

"Ah, yes, Red Death. Actually, my boy killed the dragon."

"And why is your son not here by your side to greet me?"

"Uh, I'm right here, sir," Hiccup waved, trying to pull his attention down towards him.

Ivar glanced down at Hiccup and frowned. "No really, where is your boy, Stoick? Where is this strong Viking son of yours?"

"This is my son, Hiccup!" Stoick placed his massive hand on the boy's back and gave him a gentle nudge.

Ivar looked down at the boy with a raised eyebrow. Hiccup smiled sheepishly, knowing how it must look to the Viking chief. "I see what's going on. You are sharing credit with your son to try build up his reputation. The boy has to earn it on his own."

"But…" Hiccup tried to defend himself, but the chief would hear none of it.

"You're son needs some meat on his bones and to get his hands dirty, if he is to be chief of your tribe. Send him to dragon training."

"I-I actually already have been through dragon training," Hiccup responded.

"The lad graduated top of the class," Gobber responded, patting the boy on the back.

Ivar's cold gaze was pulled towards to Gobber before he returned his focus back to Stoick. "It appears that your dragon training leaves much to be desired if a runt like this is top of the class. While here, I'll make sure that everything gets back on track. I want you to meet my right hand man, Wolfbane."

A husky Viking with black hair and a partially braided, dusty, black beard joined Ivar's side. He curled his upper lip, adding to his already intimidating demeanor. He did not say a word; only nodded towards Stoick and Gobber. Like everyone else, he ignored Hiccup, as if he was not there. This was a familiar feeling that he had hoped he would never experience again.

"Wolfbane will assess your Viking's capabilities in dragon hunting."

"And my son, Bitwolf, will retrain some of your younger Vikings," Wolfbane replied in his very deep voice.

"Understood," Stoick replied. He could sense his son getting ready to protest, but he used his hand to quell his objection. Hiccup folded his arms and bit his lip, but was clearly furious.

The group of Vikings began their journey up the mountain. "Say, I can't help but notice that some of your boats are a little roughed up," Gobber commented.

"There's a fascinating story behind that," Ivar replied with a grin. "On our way here, we encountered a Monstrous Strangulator. It's a pity it got away, though. That'd have been a nice trophy to have. Ah, well, that dragon will be my next adventure."

"So, what does brings you to our little village?" Stoick asked.

"Ah, I'm here on my greatest adventure of all. I'm searching for the rarest dragon of them all: the Shadow Lord dragon."

"Shadow Lord Dragon?" Gobber rubbed his chin, mentally going through all the dragons that he knew about. He had the Book of Dragons completely memorized. "I never heard of such a beast. I always thought that Night Furies were the rarest."

"That's because no one believes Shadow Lord' dragons exist. They are the distant cousins of the Night Fury dragons; only four times bigger and a whole lot meaner. I've been searching all over the globe for this mythical beast, and my quest has brought me here."

"I can't say that I've ever seen one around these parts," Stoick replied.

"That may be true, but that doesn't mean that there's not one around. The dragon can turn itself invisible, making it very difficult to find; but oh, I know in my gut, that the beast is real. I will search the entire planet if I have to; I will have one of it's scales if it's the last thing I do."

"What's so special about a Shadow Lord's scale?" Hiccup asked, not sure if he believed the old Viking chief. In the boy's opinion, Ivar was not all there, mentally. It sounded like just another one of his tall tales. How could a dragon turn itself invisible?

"Their scales are extremely valuable. They are stronger than stone, making them great for making weapons. Unfortunately, that also makes them difficult to kill. Ah, but that won't stop me from slaying one of these beasts."

Hiccup remained quiet. He did not know if such a dragon existed, but if it did, he hoped Ivar would never find it. To kill a dragon merely for it's scales was the most reprehensible act he could think of. No dragon deserved that kind of treatment, no matter how untamable the creature seemed to be.

* * *

Dragon Island had become desolate since the death of the dragon queen a few months earlier. Nothing living ever came to this island since then. Part of it was due to the fear that another monstrosity, like the Red Death, could be lurking inside the mountain. The skeletal remains of the dragon queen served as a warning to keep away from this island.

Another reason had to do with the lack of any vegetation. There was no food to be found on this island for any creature to survive on. However, that did not stop one rogue Monstrous Nightmare from searching the Island.

The dragon was flying around what remained of the volcano, letting curiosity to get the best of him. This particular dragon had not been involved with the dragon queen who once ruled this island. He was blissfully unaware of the history of the island. The dragon sniffed and snorted as he explored the island. As he came upon the giant opening into the very heart of the Volcano, he took a brief glance inside, before continuing to explore the rest of the island.

After the Monstrous Nightmare flew past the opening, a pair of golden eyes opened within the darkness. His moon-slit pupils latched themselves onto curious dragon, and this mysterious creature thought just one thing: lunch.

The Monstrous Nightmare continued his exploring of the island until he caught a whiff of an unpleasant smell; it was the smell of danger. The dragon quickly landed onto the rocky ground and posed himself into attack position. He steadied himself with his wing-tipped claws, which gave him four feet on the ground. His eyes constricted as he growled out a warning to whatever was out there. He could not see the danger, but he knew it was there. He swung his neck wildly, desperately looking for the threat.

The dragon swung his neck around, looking behind him to make sure that the dragon did not sneak up from behind. As he looked to his back, a pair of golden eyes opened in front of him. A gigantic black dragon slowly turned visible, with his mouth open, and his drool dripping from his teeth. The dragon towered over the Monstrous Nightmare; he was nearly two and half times bigger in mass. He quietly went forward; ready latch his fangs into the unsuspecting dragon's neck.

The Monstrous Nightmare caught the black dragon in the corner of his eyes and made a sudden leap backwards as he hissed at the predator. When he knew that his cover was blown, the massive dragon roared, swinging his razor sharp teeth in the air. He expanded his giant black wings as a mean to intimidate his prey.

It worked. Never had this scarlet and black dragon confronted a dragon bigger or more terrifying than himself; however, that was not going to stop him from giving this Shadow Lord dragon his best. The Monstrous Nightmare snapped his teeth before he unleashed a stream of fiery gel at the dragon.

Moving with the swiftness of a Night Fury, the Shadow Lord dragon leaped to the sky, avoiding the attack. He quickly tilted his body and raced around, towards the Monstrous Nightmare's back. The scarlet dragon ceased his fiery attack and quickly spun around. The Shadow Lord had vanished once again, and nowhere to be seen.

The scarlet dragon may not be able to see his enemy, but his nose told him, that the predatory beast was still around. Instincts told him that staying still was a very bad idea. Following those instincts, he lifted his wings until he was on his hind legs, and took to the sky. In no time, he picked up speed and was speeding around the volcano. He did not know the flight capabilities of this dark dragon, but perhaps he could be beaten in a fight in the sky.

As he flew around the volcano, he kept his eyes open for this mysterious dragon. For the most part, most dragon species in these parts had a mutual respect for each other. They might not get along, but they would not hunt a fellow dragon. This Shadow Lord dragon was nothing of the sort. He appeared perfectly content to eat anything and everything he encountered. There was not one docile bone in this dark dragon.

The Shadow Lord Dragon appeared out of nowhere in front of him, swinging his long and hefty tail at him. The tail came crashing down onto his back, throwing the Monstrous Nightmare straight to the ground. He crashed onto the rocks, leaving a crater in his wake, landing on the Island's bank.

Standing onto his feat, he shook his head to realign his vision after receiving such a big blow. He looked around for this black dragon, but he had once again turned invisible. However, he announced his presence with a deafening roar. This dragon was extremely dangerous, and the scarlet dragon knew it. In a quick thinking maneuver, he showered himself with his own fiery gel, setting himself on fire. Once every inch of this thick, scaly hide was on fire, he looked around for the Shadow Lord with a growl to challenge his advisory to try to eat him now.

The Shadow Lord Dragon reappeared over the ocean, accepting the challenge, as he flew by the fiery dragon, using his wings to slice the water. A large wave of water came crashing down onto of the Monstrous Nightmare, putting out the flames and drenching him. Now, soaked to the bone and unable to set himself on fire again, he was left defenseless against this intelligent dragon.

A roar echoed in the sky above him. The roar was the type of roar that announced that a death blow was imminent. The Monstrous Nightmare looked up, and fear filled his eyes. The black dragon was diving right at him, with his teeth coming down straight for his neck.

**Next chapter coming 2/23/11**


	4. Hiccup's Grudge

**Chapter 4: Hiccup s Grudge**

The Dining hall was jammed full of husky Viking. They all encircled one particular table; the table where Ivar the Fearsome sat, telling of his many adventures. Everyone was enthralled by his enchanting tales except for Hiccup. He sat alone at the next table over, having finished with his supper. He was playing with lamb's bones on his plate, stewing over the changes that Ivar had earlier talked about and growing more annoyed with each story that he told. He sat alone, ignored by everyone; it was a feeling that brought back bad memories from his past.

All the Vikings laughed, as Ivar told, yet, another one of his stories. "I had that dragon trapped with nowhere to go, and everyone knows that a trapped dragon is the most dangerous dragon. The ugly beast spewed it's putrid acid at me, but I was too quick. I leaped out of the way, and rolled underneath the dragon's neck, and that's when I took my ax and finished him off."

The Vikings cheered, raising up their mugs of bubbly ail. They were all impressed except for Hiccup, who remained sickened by his stories. However, his story had only gotten worse. "You see the horns on my helmet? These are the horns from that very dragon. I used my ax and chopped them off the caucus. I bronzed them and melded them onto this helmet to, always, remind me of this victory."

"That was a great story!" Ruffnut replied with a grin.

"Yeah!" His sister agreed.

"Tell us more about the Shadow Lord dragon," Snotlout asked. "Is it really that vicious?"

"What is his attack level? Is it plus twenty? Twenty-five? Thirty?" The only time Fishlegs' eyes were any bigger was when he was served trout for supper.

Ivar gave Fishlegs a weird look, before ultimately ignoring him. "Ah, The Shadow Lord," Ivar grinned as he rubbed his thick beard. "That dragon is so dangerous, that I wouldn't recommend anyone, other than myself, to attempt to take it on. It's fast, swift, and very lethal. It can turn itself invisible as it hunts for it's pray. It never needs to defend itself due to it's sheer size. It's the most dangerous dragon in existence."

"It doesn't sound so bad. I mean, I bet a Night Fury could beat it in a fight. Nothing has ever taken down a Night Fury before," Hiccup said out loud before he could stop himself. Ivar had gotten on his last nerve.

The wall of Vikings, separating his table from the Ivar's, disintegrated; giving the Viking chief a clear view of the young boy. "So, you have a strong respect for the Night Fury, do you?" He let out a hefty chuckle. "Well, don't put too much respect in that dragon, because legend says that the Shadow Lord and the Night Fury are mortal enemies. The Shadow Lord is perhaps the only dragon that can kill a night fury. They share the same speed, and agility, but even a Night Fury cannot fight against a dragon that is four times it's size.

"Perhaps, but the Night Fury is a very Intelligent dragon," Hiccup retaliated. From the corner of his eye, he could see Gobber motioning at him to keep quiet, but Hiccup could not let this go. What the boy said next made his mentor squirm. "A Night Fury uses his intelligence to defeat dragons who can be twenty times bigger than himself."

Ivar bellowed out a hardy laugh. "You know your dragons, I'll give you that, lad. The Shadow Lord is very intelligent as well, perhaps even more so than a Night Fury. The Night Fury has no hope against it's more dangerous counterpart."

Hiccup was furious. He knew that the Viking chief was only saying this stuff to make him feel inferior. He could not hold back any longer. This Viking chief thought he knew everything about dragons, but Hiccup knew the truth. He was about to tell Ivar off until Gobber stepped in between them. "Silly me, I forgot I left the forging furnace on. Why don't you head back to the shop and shut it down for me."

"But…"

"Go!" Gobber ordered. He knew that Hiccup was going to tell Ivar the truth about dragons, and doing so now would only bring chaos to the village. He sympathizes for the boy; the Viking chief was way too hard on the boy, but right now, Hiccup was becoming a hindrance to his own cause.

Hiccup sighed as he turned away and headed for the door. Before he left, Ivar looked back towards Hiccup. "You're supposed to be Stoick's heir, boy. If you want to be chief someday, you need to take your knowledge of dragons and put it to use. When you kill your first dragon, then I'll pretend to care about what you think."

Hiccup growled as he threw the door open violently and stormed out of the dining hall. Astrid, who was among all the Viking watched Hiccup storm out of the dinning all. She knew him well enough to know when he was about to sneak out of the village. There was only one place he would go, and perhaps he could use some additional, female encouragement.

* * *

The sun was setting on Berk; concluding the first day of Hiccup's nightmare. After one day with Ivar, he was already going out of his mind. He had to spend some time away from the village, and away from everyone else. After carefully making sure that no curious onlookers were paying attention to him, he slipped out of the village and jogged on over to where the dragons were being hidden.

By the time he reached the field, the sun was just about gone and the canvas of the sky was painted orange fading into purple. The full moon was unhindered by clouds this evening, which made it easier for Hiccup to find his way.

As he approached the field, he was greeted by a tiny, red Terrible Terror. The small dragon walked in curves towards him and sniffed Hiccup's boot. He looked up at the boy and began to purr with delight. The dragon quickly turned around and flew off to find his friends.

Hiccup entered the field, to see most of the dragons still around. Thankfully, most of the dragons were treating this like a vacation, which made Hiccup wonder if the dragons knew that they were free to come and go as they pleased from the village.

A few dragons were just lying around, acting somewhat depressed. It seemed to be the dragons who had latched onto a particular Viking, who were depressed. He walked deeper into the field, looking all around for Toothless. It did not take him long to find him drinking at the stream.

The Night Fury's ears perked up before he raised his head, making a curious moan. He turned around to see Hiccup walking towards him, and an instant feeling of joy swept over the dragon. He leaped excitingly towards Hiccup, and greeted him with a giant lick across the face.

Hiccup laughed as he scratched Toothless in one of his favorite spots: right behind the ear. "I missed you too," Hiccup said. Toothless tilted his head and looked at him with inquisitive eyes. The dragon knew that something was troubling him. "I'm so sorry about having to leave you and all the other dragons here. I think this is a big mistake. I mean, why should we care what Ivar thinks about us? I know he certainly doesn't think much about me."

"You're right, you shouldn't care what he thinks," a female voice replied from down the field. Hiccup turned his head to see Astrid joining him in the field. Toothless' eyes lit up as he let out a cheerful grown; he was excited about seeing her too. "I…I had a feeling that you would come here after what just happened."

"I just wanted to get away from things," Hiccup said, looking down at his feet.

"You're going to be a great chief, one day. Your father knows it… your friends know it… I know it. That's all that matters."

"It's just that…It's that I… Arrgh!" Hiccup growled, waving his fists in front of him, wishing he had something to hit right about then. He was at a loss for words to describe what he was feeling; Ivar had him so riled up.

"I know how you must feel," Astrid said, taking a step closer to him. "I know how hard this is for you, but things will work out."

"How?" Hiccup replied. "I don't see how things will work out. He's not going to leave until he finds this Shadow Lord that probably doesn't even exist. Not to mention that we're being forced back into Dragon training, and that means we're going to have to kill a dragon. I will not hurt a dragon."

"We'll just have to play along and make sure that they do not find any dragons," Astrid shrugged.

"That's easy for you to say; you were great at dragon training," Hiccup replied. "I could barley pick up a shield let alone a hammer or an ax. I was an embarrassment. Once they see that, it's all over for me."

"You graduated top of the class, remember?" Astrid grinned.

"That's because I cheated."

"Exactly. Just do the same thing now, until they leave. I know you can do that."

"I don't know," Hiccup said, not fully convinced that he would be able to fool Ivar as easily as his father.

"You know what I think you need? I think you need something to get your mind of things for awhile. How about we take a flight around the island?"

Hiccup's face lit up. A nice flight around the island with Toothless seemed like a very good idea. It would, without a doubt, get his mind off of his current problems for awhile. Somehow, Toothless had understood Astrid's suggestion, and he was more than excited about it. "Why not," Hiccup replied. "I'll help you find your dragon."

"I was thinking more on the line of riding together."

Hiccup's face lit up even brighter.

* * *

Hiccup climbed onto the saddle first. After he had settled in, he reached a hand down and helped Astrid up. When she settled in behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, which caused Hiccup's face to blush. "Okay Toothless, let's do this."

Giving an affirmative grown, the dragon took a small leaping jump, and they soared up to the sky. Pressing down the pedal with his specially designed, artificial foot, the dragon's synthetic tail fin expanded, allowing him to fly all the way up.

Night had fully taken over, and the stars and the full moon took full control of the sky. With it, there was a distinct crispness in the air; the temperature was just perfect for flying.

Astrid looked up at the beautiful starry night. No matter how many times she took a flight at night, she could never get used to the majestic night sky. The rays of the moon showered radiantly over them. Hiccup loved flying together with Astrid, but the only downfall, for him, was that he could not see the moonlight reflect off her face. The moonlight enhanced her beauty.

Flying to the far side of the Island, the farthest point away from Berk, they came across a giant waterfall. Hiccup lightened up his artificial foot from the pedal, which told Toothless to fly down towards the waterfall. The dragon made a bee-line straight for the falls. He twisted as he dived straight down in front of the falls, so the falling water slightly skimmed his belly. Gravity caused Astrid to lean more of her weight on Hiccup's back, but he did not mind in the least.

Astrid closed her eyes and pointed out her chin to enjoy the cool mist spraying across her neck and face. She fully trusted Toothless with her life, so she could enjoy the moment even more. As the lake at the bottom of the falls approached, Toothless pulled up, and flew just inches above the lake. The dragon followed the path of the lake, which, at times, had narrowed down, which forced him to fly at a slight angle.

Flying at high speed, the chill of the wind was like the gentle pricking of the skin on their faces. Astrid looked down to the right to see the reflection of herself looking back at her on the water's surface. Leaning a little more to the right, she could see Toothless's reflection chasing after the moon's. Looking up, she could see the giant moon overhead, pridefully smiling at the beauty that it was displaying for the two Vikings.

Toothless followed the lake all the way to the ocean, where he had to fly slightly higher to avoid the waves of the ocean. The waves were too rough to be able to see their reflection on the water's surface, but that still did not diminish the beautiful sight of the moonlight radiating onto the waves.

After spending some time over the ocean, both Astrid and Hiccup knew that it was time to head back. It would not be long before someone in the village took notice that they were both missing. The last thing they needed was to draw attention to the dragons.

Toothless pulled up to the sky as he turned around and made his way back towards land. Astrid hoped that Hiccup had enjoyed this flight as much as she did. She rested her chin on his shoulder for the rest of the trip back to the dragons.

* * *

WolfBane was exploring the forest; he was on a quest for Ivar. He was looking for signs of the Shadow Lord. Just like all the other treks he had made for Ivar, he was coming up empty. He could not help but wondered if he had allowed his hopes of finding this mythical dragon get the better of him. Perhaps Ivar had been wrong about this dragon's existence after all.

His trek had brought him towards a large field. He held his torch in front of him, which provided additional light on top of the light being provided by the moon. He came two steps from the clearing when he saw a Monstrous Nightmare walk by. "Beard of Thor!" He whispered, leaping behind a large brush to avoid being seen. He quickly smothered the flame of his torch in the dirt avoid giving his location away.

He had his hand on his ax, ready to attack the unsuspecting dragon when he took notice of the other dragons in the field. There were hundreds of them, and all of a different verity. He had never seen so many dragons gathered in one location.

Another dragon came soaring from the sky to land in the field with all the other dragons, but this dragon was different; it was the only one of it's kind. There was no mistaking it; it was a Night Fury. Leaping off the back of the Night Fury was the boy he recognized as Hiccup and a girl Viking. Bitwolf grinned at his amazing discovery and quietly snuck away to head back to the village.

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid were on their way back to the village. They could see the lights from the torches as they approached. The flight had totally taken Hiccup's mind off of the stress he was under. He felt like a new person.

"I suppose I should I should go home and face my father, now," Hiccup grumbled.

"Just hang in there. I'm sure your father will get Ivar off your back a little."

Hiccup nodded as he headed towards his house. He had only taken two steps when he felt a hand grab his should and violently turned him around. "Wha-"

Before he knew it, Astrid's lips were locked with his. It took his brain a second to compute what was going on. This was an unexpected but very pleasant surprise. He only wished it lasted longer. She broke off from the kiss to turn around and head home.

* * *

The crowd had died down in the dining hall, finally giving Ivar the opportunity to eat in peace. He had finished his leg of lamb when Wolfbane entered the dining hall. Ivar suppressed a belch just as his second-in-command reached the table. "So, have you found any signs of the Shadow Lord on this Island."

"None. I have found nothing out of the ordinary yet, though I could use more time to further search the island."

"I agree," Ivar replied. "Did you find any dragons at all on this Island? We need to find dragons for the young Vikings to kill if they are to go through dragon training again."

"Not yet, but I'm sure we'll find some," Wolfbane grinned.

**NEXT CHAPTER COMING 3/2/11**


	5. Retraining

_**(I wanted to point out an error in the last chapter, which has been recently corrected. I got the names mixed up. In the last chapter, I have been using the name Bitwolf, when I actually meant Wolfbane. Let me clarify things up. Wolfbane is the second in command next to Ivar the Fearsom. Bitwolf, who is being introduced in this chapter, is Wolfbane's son. Sorry for the confusion.)**_

**Chapter 5: Dragon Training**

Coming back to the arena brought back some not-so-fond memories. The moment Hiccup followed his friends inside, he began to relive the time when he last went through dragon training. Now, he was about to relive his worst nightmare, and go through all the embarrassment once again.

Everyone else did not seem to care about having to redo the training. Snotlout, like always, was ready to prove that he should be top of the class. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were more focused on trying to prove to each other who was the better Viking. Fishlegs seemed eager to show off his knowledge about dragons, but Hiccup doubted that the new teacher would be impressed by mere knowledge of dragons. Astrid was ready to unleash her strength, again determined not to be outdone by any of the boys. Despite her aggressive demeanor, Hiccup knew he could trust her not to allow any dragons to be harmed during this retraining.

As the young Vikings entered the arena, Wolfbane stood in the center, ready to get the training on the way. Gobber stood next to him, determined not to be outdone by the visiting Viking. The kids all stood in a line as Wolfbane was ready to start the lesson. "Welcome to dragon training. You've all been through training once before, but it's the opinion of the chief Viking, that you be retrained the correct way."

Gobber rolled his eyes, but restrained himself from saying anything in front of the class. Wolfbane commenced his address to the class. "I won't be the one training you. My son, Bitwolf, will be the one training you."

A young Viking stepped out from behind Wolfbane. Bitwolf was about the same height as Tuffnut, but with bulging muscles. He had long, black, silky hair and a red head band with a painted on image of a dragon skull. He had the face of someone who was in his early twenties instead of that a young boy. His dark blue eyes were very piercing, especially to young female Vikings; Ruffnut and Astrid were no different. Their eyes bulged at the sight of the extremely handsome young Viking.

Unlike other Vikings, he did not wear much armor. He wore a sleeveless black tunic underneath a black furry vest-coat. He sported a rope necklace that had twelve dragon fingers hanging down over his chest. Even on his thick leather belt, he had a metal buckle shaped as a dragon with a sword in its heart.

When Hiccup saw Astrid and Ruffnut's reaction to his appearance, he grumbled underneath his breath. He rolled up his shoulders and looked down at his right upper arm. His muscles, or lack thereof, could not come close to compare with Bitwolf's.

Bitwolf carried his ax over his shoulder as he glanced over the class that he was about to train. "Thanks father. I'll take it from here."

"Very good, son. Do me proud," Wolfbane gave his an encouraging punch on the arm. "Let's leave the young Vikings to their training."

As he and Gobber made their way out of the arena to watch from outside the arena, Gobber did not hold back his concerns any longer. "Don't you think that they should learn from a more experienced Viking?"

"My son has slain a dozen dragons since graduating from dragon training last year. How long did it take you to kill your first twelve?"

Gobber grumbled as he followed Wolfbane out of the arena. Gobber was already beginning to dislike him. Wolfbane showed no respect to him, despite Gobbers age over the visiting Viking. If it came to experience, he was certain that he had Wolfbane beat. With Ivar currently the chief in charge, Gobber would have to submit to Wolfbane's authority as well.

"I know all of you have gone through training before, but this one's going to be a little different. I'm not going to be training you as your instructor, but as your friend."

"Really?" Tuffnut replied with a raised eyebrow.

"We're all young Vikings here. Tomorrow, we'll all go hunting for dragons."

The class all muttered in approval. They all seemed to be warming up to this new young Viking, but Hiccup remained skeptical of him. Perhaps it had something to do with the way Astrid has been looking at him. If he did not know better, he was certain that Wolfbit was looking at her too.

"But before we do that, let's see what you can do. I've set up some double-stacked barrels. Chose a weapon from this stash and show me your best attack."

"Great, I've always been great with the bola!" Tuffnut said proudly.

"Since when? I've never seen you throw a bola in my life," Ruffnut replied.

"I've thrown a bola before. You've just never been around to see it."

"Me, I've always liked the hammer. There's something just so manly about it," Snotlout added with a grin.

"Then how about you go first, Snotlout," Bitwolf suggested.

"Sure," he replied. He walked over to the wooden wall, where all different sorts of weapons and shields were hanging, and he pulled down a giant hammer. Snotlout picked a stack of barrels, and aligned himself with his target. "I'll show all of you how it's done."

He raised the large hammer over and behind his head as he twisted his hips slightly to the right. He let out a grunt as he tossed it at the barrels. His hammer spiraled in the air and hit the upper barrel, tipping it slightly before it fell back into place.

"Not bad," Bitwolf replied as the other Vikings cheered. "Tuffnut, you want to take a crack at it?"

"I'll show you my masterful skill with a bola!" He said to his sister, taking a step towards the weapons.

Ruffnut grabbed him by the shoulder and pull him violently back behind her. "Not so fast, vomit breath. I'm going first."

"Over my dead body!"

"How about over a black eye?" She shook her fist at him.

Bitwolf had heard about the twin's reputation to be extremely competitve towards each other. They could spend hours fighting each other, and now was not the time to waist energy on each other. "How about we move on to you, Fishlegs?"

The young, heavy-set Viking walked up to the wall of weapons and glanced over all the weapons on display. "What weapon should I use? The hammer has a plus five strength, but a negative three defense capability. The Bola: plus one strength and no defense. The ax…"

"I'll go next," Astrid volunteered, tired of waiting for her turn to come. With her own personal ax in hand, she stepped forward and aimed for another set of barrels.

Her aggressive nature took over, as she snarled. It was as if she was a different person altogether, and now she was someone out to make a kill. "Hiya!" She whipped her ax around and threw it at the top barrel of her set. Her ax spiraled in the air and deeply implanted itself into the wooden barrel.

"Very impressive," Bitwolf replied with a smile. Hiccup frowned, knowing that he was trying to woo her.

"You think you can do better?" Astrid grinned as, placing her hands on her hips.

"I don't know, let's find out," Bitwolf stepped forward with his ax and aligned himself with the same stack of barrels that Astrid had just attacked.

He snarled like a raging bull. His nostrils flared as he riled up his rage. He raised his ax for the throw, and instead of letting out a ferocious roar, which he had appeared to be setting up for, he threw it silently and swiftly. The blade of the ax hit the barrel right next to Astrid's implanted ax, but upon impact, the entire barrel shattered into splinters.

"Whoa!" Everyone gasped in disbelief. Even Astrid was astonished by this amazing feat.

"How'd you do that!" Snotlout asked.

"This is a little game that we play at our village. The secret is not how hard you throw, but where you hit the barrel. "

He could not take it any longer. Bitwolf's eyes had not departed from Astrid since this training had begun. "Well, I guess that makes it my turn!" Hiccup said, intentionally walking between Bitwolf and Astrid to get to the wall of weapons.

"If you think you're up to it, there's a small knife up there."

"I'm just as Vikingly as everyone else here. I'll stick with an ax," Hiccup responded with a slight hint of agitation.

Hiccup reached up for the ax, but dropped it almost immediately. He had to jump back in order to avoid crushing his toes.

"Hiccup, maybe…"

Astrid took a step towards him but Hiccups held up his hand to stop her. "No, I can do this."

Hiccup reached down and grabbed the wooden handle to the ax. The ax proved to be heavier than he had hoped, but he was determined to prove that he could throw an ax, just like everyone else. He ended up dragging the weapon into position. Every one of his friends looked at each other, with concerned looks, and then took a step back.

"You can do this, Hiccup!" he said to himself. "Just build up your rage, and throw it." He took heavy breaths and concentrated on everything that Ivar had said to him recently. Remembering everything he had said brought back all the frustration he had been feeling. In his mind's eye, he pictured Ivar's face on the barrel that he was aiming for.

Hiccup roared as he used all his strength to pick up the ax, spin around one full rotation, and throw it. Instead of the ax heading towards the barrel, it flew in Bitwolf's direction. He barley was able to jump out of the way as the ax crashed on the ground exactly where he had just been standing. The young Vikings erupted in laughter.

Watching from above, Gobber could not hold back a laugh. "Hehehe! The boy's got good aim, don't he?" He smirked towards Wolfbane.

Wolfbane was not amused. He made his way towards the entrance to the arena. Gobber chuckled as he headed back towards his blacksmith shop. He had a hunch that Hiccup was going to be heading there in the near future.

Bitwolf cleaned himself off after returning to his feet. "I think it would be better if you stick with the knife, next time."

Embarrassed by this major mishap, he looked down at his feet, and pranced out of the arena. Astrid watched in concern, but decided to let him have some time alone. Bitwolf watched Hiccup leave, walking past his father on the way out. "I think we should call it day. Let's go have ourselves a feast. Tomorrow, we go dragon hunting!"

Everyone cheered about the feast. Feasting was one of the several hobbies that a Viking enjoyed doing the most, and it was something that they did, very well. When Bitwolf noticed his father heading his way, he stepped back away from the other Vikings. "I'll meet you all there in a second."

The young Vikings headed out of the arena. Bitwolf could hear Snotlout over all the others as they departed. "Did you see that barrel shatter? He has to show me how he did that!"

When the kids were a safe distance away, Wolfbane gave his son a slap on the back. "So, son, tell me what you think?"

Bitwolf shook his head as he let out a healthy laugh. "Hiccup's the worst excuse of a Viking I have ever seen. That kid couldn't even intimidate a fly."

Wolfbane nodded, seeing how his son would think that after today's display. "Don't underestimate him. He is very dangerous to my plans. I have seen him, with my own eyes, fly on the back of a Night Fury. The rumors of his ability to control dragons are all true."

Bitwolf chuckled. "Hiccup has a pet Night Fury? That's hard to believe."

"Be smart, my Son. Don't be like the fool, Ivar. Smarts will always defeat brute force. Ivar can't get his head around that, and that is his greatest weakness. Stoick's son may have a body of a fishbone, and the strength of a flea, but he is very intelligent. You remember the plan, right?"

"Yes, you want me to learn Hiccup's secret in getting the dragons to obey his commands." Bitwolf rolled his eyes, getting tired of assuring his father that he knew what he was supposed to do.

"Right. Once I learn that secret, I will be ready to find that Shadow Lord and force it to submit to me. I will become the most feared Viking of them all. You just make sure that Stoick's son is distracted. Steal away his friends, his pretty little girlfriend, or make him the biggest embarrassment of all of Berk. Do all of the above, whatever it takes to distract him."

"That shouldn't be too hard," Bitwolf smiled. "I already caught the eye of Astrid. Between me and Hiccup, she'd be a fool to choose him over me."

"If you're going after the girl, then don't let her distract her. If you can win her over, then she is yours. If not, she will meet the same fate as her village. After I have my Shadow Lord, Ivar and Stoick will be my dragon's first meal. Then I shall burn down this pitiful village."

**NEXT CHAPTER COMING 3/9/11**


	6. Jealousy

**Chapter 6: Jealousy**

After his embarrassing mishap, Hiccup needed to let off some steam. The best place to unleash his anger was the blacksmith shop. There was something stress releasing about forging a new sword. He had used the giant cast iron pliers to pull out the sword from the furnace. The blade was glowing red, when he placed it carefully on top of the anvil. He took the forging hammer and began to pound on the metal into the proper shape. With each impact, red-hot sparks sprayed out in all directions. His protective apron protected him from the sparks from burning him.

He continued to unleash his rage onto the blade. He had become so focused on pounding the blade, that he failed to see Gobber enter the shop. "Ah, I see you are making a new weapon."

As he continued to hammer the blade, his mind raced to come up with an excuse for making this weapon. He rarely volunteered to forge a new weapon; he usually only did so upon request by Gobber or a Viking who needed a replacement weapon. With no current requests for a sword, it was kind of hard to explain this away. He really had no desire to talk about what had happened today. "I just thought it would be a good idea to start a stockpile of swords. A sword is a totally underrated weapon among the Vikings."

"Aye, that's the truth, lad," Gobber replied. "We definitely have a shortage of swords small enough to be used as toothpicks."

Hiccup paused on his hammering to look down at the blade. The sword was indeed smaller than he had hoped. He let out a depressing sigh as he rolled his eyes and shook his head. There goes his perfect excuse to keep to himself. "I just had a bad day, that's all."

"Aye, I'd say that you did, too. I saw the whole thing."

"I just want to say, that it's very hard to throw an ax with only one good leg," Hiccup said eagerly wanting to save face. Truthfully, he was trying to convince himself of it more than Gobber.

"And not to mention that you're as scrawny as a twig."

"Thanks for reminding me," Hiccup replied dryly.

He looked out the window and saw his group of friends walking by. They were all gathering around Bitwolf laughing and having a fun time. When he saw Astrid right there next to him, his blood began to boil. He brought down his hammer onto the blade.

"Oh, I see what's going on here. You can't hide it from me; I know the look of a man with women problems."

"Women Problems? What?" Hiccup looked at him weirdly.

"I was a young boy once, too. It doesn't take a genius to see what you're feeling. Another goat has entered the pen. Am I right?"

"Uh, I don't think I understand what you mean?" Hiccup said, raising an eyebrow,

"Yes you do," Gobber said, slapping Hiccup in the back with his real hand. "There's one too many axes in the shed."

"Still not getting it."

"Really? I was sure you were going to get that one," Gobber said, rubbing his chin. "Ah well, the point is, it appears you are in need of some advice about women."

Hiccup looked up at him slyly. "No offense, but how are you qualified to give me advice about women?"

Gobber chuckled. "Just because I never got married, doesn't mean I don't know a thing or two about women."

Hiccup glanced out the window at Astrid and Bitwolf and shook his head in depression. "What was I thinking? Why would I think she would stay interested in someone as boring as myself?"

"Don't sell yourself short, Hiccup. Sure, you may be weak, clumsy, scrawny…"

"You really have a knack for making me feel better," Hiccup said sarcastically.

"The point is, what you lack in all of those, you make you for up here," he pointed to Hiccup's forehead. "It was your brain that killed Green Death. If you hadn't found a way to make peace with the beasts, we would not be standing here now. That boy out there–he would have been dragon food. I'm sure in Astrid's eyes, you have him beat, hands down." Gobber looked down at his ax attachment, which served as his artificial limb, and hid it behind him. "Well, you get the picture."

"I suppose," Hiccup replied, feeling a little better.

Gobber did have a point. If he had been like most other Vikings, he would have killed Toothless and Berk would not be here. Not even Bitwolf would have been able to stop Green Death. Yes, perhaps Bitwolf had killed a dozen dragons, but were any of them as dangerous as Green Death? He seriously doubted it. If they had both been chiefs, by Viking tradition, Hiccup would be Bitwolf's superior. The more he thought about that, the better he felt.

Hiccup looked out at his friends, who were starting to disband. The only two still talking was Astrid and Bitwolf. Already his brief moment of relief from self loathing started to make a nosedive. Of course, he knew what he had done for Berk and was still capable of doing, but did Astrid really see him that way, or was she allowing herself to be blinded by his charm?

* * *

Bitwolf could see Hiccup with the corner of his eye. The boy was watching them from the blacksmith shop, and that was why he had convinced Astrid to stay and talk a little longer. He could imagine how jealous he must be getting from inside the shop. "So, what's the deal with Hiccup, anyway."

"Don't let him fool you. He may not be strong, but he's very smart. Everything Stoick said about him killing Green Death, a few months ago, is true. We would've all been killed if it wasn't for him. That's how he lost his leg. He's still having a little trouble adjusting to his new limb."

A part of him could not believe that a boy like Hiccup could kill a Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus like Green Death. Was this a story this village made up to try to impress Ivar and get him off his back, or was there truth to the story? His father confirmed that Hiccup had a Night Fury, so perhaps there was something to this story.

The thought of a weak little Viking like Hiccup killing an exotic dragon like that made his blood boil. Bitwolf killed twelve dragons, but the biggest dragon he had ever killed was a Monstrous Nightmare. To be outdone by a pathetic excuse of a Viking was insulting to say in the least. Ivar reserved most of the exotic dragons for himself, leaving his father and the rest of the Vikings everything else. There was no way for any of them to get the respect that came with killing exotic dragons. That was why he and his father were going to kill Ivar. His father was tired of living in the shadow of the legend and being left with nothing more than scraps.

"If I did not know any better, I'd say that you were his girlfriend."

"Call me that again, and I will knock some teeth out," Astrid growled. Her eyes became serious and tense. "I belong to no man; I am my own person. No man will ever own me."

"Ok, ok," Bitwolf laughed. "Wow, you are scarier than a Monstrous Nightmare with a toothache."

"And don't you forget it," Astrid grinned. She hated to be called girlfriend. It was not like that she did not like Hiccup, she really did, but to be called someone's girlfriend was like losing her own identity, and with it, all the respect it came with. Her name was Astrid Hofferson-not Hiccup's Girlfriend. She has worked too hard to lose the respect that she had to earn because she was a girl. There were too few women Viking warriors as it was. "Hiccup and I are friends."

"Okay," Bitwolf replied. He was convinced that she was attracted to him. It would not take long to get her to turn against Hiccup, after all.

* * *

Evening had come, and the sun was setting. Hiccup had come to supper only to find his friends sitting with Bitwolf. They had not seen him come into the dining hall, so he snuck off to a far corner to eat alone. This had been the first dinner in a while that he sat by himself to eat. He usually ate with Astrid or his father. Stoick was being kept very busy by Ivar, so Hiccup had not seen much of him lately.

After supper, his friends and Bitwolf had parted ways. This was his opportunity to get back into good graces with them. Ever since he arrived, they had pretty much ignored Hiccup and flocked to their new friend. Once again, Hiccup had found himself as the outcast among the Vikings.

He followed his friends out of the dining hall and ran to catch up to them. "Hey guys, anyone want to sneak out and take ride on our dragons?"

"Eh, maybe some other time. Bitwolf is going to show us some of his amazing fighting techniques," Snotlout replied. "Maybe I can use some of them to impress Gertrude."

"Maybe I can get myself a girlfriend, too," Tuffnut agreed.

"You're never going to get a girlfriend, face it, Troll Mucus!" Ruffnut chuckled.

"You're really getting on my nerves, sister!" Tuffnut butted heads with his sister.

"You make it way too easy, Elf Lips!" She replied with a grin. It was way too easy to get underneath his skin, and a whole lot fun as well.

"Cool it, you two," Astrid said before looking toward Hiccup. "Why don't you come with us?"

Going to learn some fighting moves from Bitwolf sounded as much fun as getting a tooth pulled. He was disappointed that they did not want to go riding on their dragons, but neither was he willing to sit through a session with Bitwolf just to be with them. He had no desire to watch him steal them away from him. "That's okay, I just forgot that I need to close down the shop, anyway. I'll see you all tomorrow morning."

"Okay, see ya!" Snotlout replied quickly as the group headed back to the old dragon arena.

* * *

Having flown for many hours, the Shadow Lord had finally reached land. Dragon Island had been a desolate place, with very little food to sustain him. It was very rare for a dragon to come to the Island like the other Monstrous Nightmare had done. That dragon had provided much needed nourishment, but it was hardly enough. The Shadow Lord had a hunger that could never be satisfied.

Now, this new island was full of life. There was more than plenty of vegetation to provide habitation for suitable prey. From the sky, this Island was the biggest island he had ever seen. He could probably spend the rest of his life here, dining like he had never dined before. Dragons, humans, they all tasted the same. To the Shadow Lord, anything alive that crossed his path would find itself his next supper. He had no bias or particular cravings.

As night had fallen, he decided to fly down to the sandy beach to find a place to sleep for the night. There was a giant rock on the edge of the beach and the forest. It formed a giant cavern that was just big enough for him to lay down comfortably. He quickly descended towards the small cavern and landed on the sandy beach, just a few feet away. Instantly going invisible, he looked into the cavern.

Convinced that it would do nicely, he took time to pull up some grass, leaves, and twigs and spat them out into the cavern, to form a nice cozy little bed. After he was satisfied with his work, he breathed fire onto his bed, catching all the leaves and twigs on fire. After a few minutes, when they there was only burning charred remains left, he climbed into the cavern and laid his belly onto the hot bed. The warmth of the burning timber was soothing to his belly. With all of his work done, he laid his head down and closed his eyes. Tomorrow, he will go hunting, and he had a good feeling that he was going to have a very nice feast.

**Next Chapter Coming 9/16/11**


	7. Dragon Hunt

**Chapter 7: Dragon Hunt**

When Hiccup got home, his father was still out. Ivar had him busier than he had ever been. Hiccup wondered why his father allowed him to push him around like he does.

So the night was going to be lonelier than he had thought. Perhaps he should have snuck out of the village to visit Toothless. At least he would have had company to distract him from his troubles. Now, alone in his house, there was nothing for him to do but dwell on his situation.

He could hear the rain pounding on the rooftop, with an occasional roar of thunder. With the rain, a cold front had moved in. Hiccup had to toss a few more logs into the fire pit in the center of the room to warm up the room a little.

After throwing on another log in, there came a solid knock at the door. The strength behind the knock caused the entire door to shake. The strength of the knock told him that an adult was at the door. It was obviously not his father, because he would knock on the door to his own home. His uncle Spitelout and Gobber had a different rhythm to their knocks, so he knew it was not them. By the process of elimination, he feared to open the door.

Against his inner warning, he unlocked the door and opened it. His guess was proven correct when he saw Ivar standing at the door. His day continued to digress. "Uh, Ivar, sir, you're here…at my house." Ivar pushed Hiccup out of the way as he entered the house. "Want to come in?" he said dryly, closing the door.

"You're actions during dragon training, were completely unacceptable. You were quite an embarrassment, this morning."

This was the last thing Hiccup wanted to talk about. He was already feeling bad about it, and he really did not need to have this constantly thrown back into his face. "I know, I know; I should stick with the knife."

"No, that's not it," Ivar replied. "I see now that I was wrong about everything."

"You were?" Hiccup eyed him suspiciously. Could his father finally have gotten through to him? He was not ready to get his hopes up. There had to be an angle to this.

"I now see that the problem does not lie with you. You _do_ have a heart of a real Viking."

"I do?"

"When you went for the Ax, you proved to me that you have that Viking tenacity that we all must have. The problem's not with you… it's with your father."

"I'm not following," Hiccup replied, getting the feeling that things were about to get worse.

"You are the son of a Viking chief, which means you are destined to follow in his footsteps. It is his responsibility to be hard on you, to assure that you make an adequate chief. It's a clear to me that he's not been hard enough on you.

"He hasn't?" His gut feeling was right again; things were about to get a whole lot worse for him. He could already feel the hammer falling.

"No, so I will be even harder on you until Stoick is ready to be the Viking chief that he's supposed to be."

"Great, I'm so excited," Hiccup replied sarcastically.

"Listen boy, the reason I've been so hard on you is because something inside of me tells me that you are destined to be not just a great Viking chief, but a legend like me. If that's your destiny, then you need to start shaping up and learn how to kill yourself a dragon. I better hear good things from Bitwolf, tomorrow."

Ivar exited out of the house as abruptly as he came, leaving Hiccup alone in his dread. Deep in the pit of his stomach, he felt nauseous. It was great to know that Ivar did not hate him, but things could not continue the way they were going. Ivar had to know the truth.

* * *

The sun began to rise, the following morning, much to Hiccup's dismay. This was the day of the dragon hunt. He could only pray that none of the dragons strayed too far from the hideout. He had to find a way to get the group to explore the opposite direction.

As he walked down the steps from his room to the bottom floor, he found his father preparing himself for another busy day. Stoick did not have to turn around to see Hiccup coming down the steps; his hearing was as sharp as ever, and he could hear the slight moan of the wooden steps. "I heard about what happened yesterday, Hiccup."

"I know, I know, I had a bad day yesterday!" Hiccup replied.

"What possessed you to try to throw an ax? As it is, we're walking on a very thin line with Ivar, and your stunt has made things worse for both of us."

"I don't know what I was thinking," Hiccup admitted.

"You just have no idea about Viking politics; You have no idea what Ivar is capable of doing to Berk. The best of those options is having him stay here… permanently."

Hiccup's eyes widen with the thought of having to put up with Ivar permanently. That was the last thing anyone wanted. The dragons of Berk would be hunted down to extinction if they remained in Berk.

Stoick shook his head and sighed. "Telling Ivar the truth is just not an option. Who knows what the ol' man would do? I also know how much you hate not fitting in, but the more you try to do so, the more trouble seems to follow you. I need you to lie low for awhile, and not draw attention to yourself. I need you to try to stop fitting in, just until Ivar and his Vikings leave the island.

Hiccup looked down at his feet. "Okay, Dad. I'll try harder to lay low."

"Good," Stoick gave his son a hardy slap on the back.

* * *

Rain clouds threatened to make the expedition a wet one, but Bitwolf was not going to allow the weather to scare them off. The young Vikings of Berk had promptly left the village to begin their quest. Hiccup was relieved that he did not have to do very much to assure they headed in the wrong way. Bitwolf led them in the opposite direction from the dragon.

All of Hiccups friends had a weapon and a shield, but to submit to his father's wish, he only took a small knife with him. He also did not see any point in carrying the extra weight because he knew that their quest for dragons would fail.

Like always, all of his friends were bickering among each other about who is going to kill the biggest dragons. They all had agreed to put on a show for Ivar and Bitwolf, but their acting has been so good, that he almost began to wonder if they were acting.

"Yeah, I'm looking to kill myself a Monstrous Nightmare. I think Gertrude would be impressed by that." Snotlout announced.

"Face it, she'll never be impressed by you, no matter what you kill," Astrid said, resulting in a laugh and a high five from Ruffnut.

"Ignore them. Let me tell you about women," Tuffnut said, stepping up to Snotlout. "They are a pain in the butt."

There was a tap on Tuffnut's shoulder. He turned around just in time to receive a well aimed punch in the nose from his sister. "Ow! I think you broke my nose!"

"It's still an improvement."

Fishlegs brought up the rear along with Hiccup. He was the only one that really sympathized with Hiccup. He was probably just as inept in killing dragons as Hiccup was. That was why, Hiccup suspected, they had always gotten along. He was the only one that had never mocked him back during the days of killing dragons. "I don't know what to say; all this pretending is tough work."

"Quiet!" Hiccup whispered to him. "At least their chief is not always on your case."

Bitwolf was getting ready to tell everyone to quiet down on the chatter, but before he could get the words out of his lips, he saw a pair of golden eyes behind Hiccup and Fishlegs. Before his very eyes, a black dragon appeared out of thin air. Its teeth were drawn as drool dripped from one of its fang. It was just inches from devouring the two young Vikings.

"Look out!"

The two young Vikings turned to see the inside of the dragon's mouth quickly approaching. Seeing them about to be devoured, Astrid's aggressive instincts took control, and she threw her ax with everything she had. Her ax spiraled toward the dragon's mouth, and bounced off of one of its front teeth. The black dragon lifted his head and roared in frustration and pain.

Hiccup and Fishlegs took the opportunity to escape and ran to join the rest of the gang. "Whoa! What is that thing? It appeared just like a ghost!" Snotlout exclaimed.

Bitwolf was uncharacteristically somber. If Hiccup did not know better, he would swear that he was scared. The dragon stared at the group of Young Vikings and growled before it vanished before their very eyes. "I can count the number of dragon species that turn invisible on one hand, but there is one that looks like a giant, evil Night Fury with horns."

"A Shadow Lord," Astrid completed his though, remembering the stories that Ivar told when he first arrived.

"It can't be," Hiccup muttered to himself. Was everything, that Ivar had said about this 'mythical' creature, true?

"Stick together, and we might be able to survive this," Bitwolf ordered, raising his shield and his ax to prepare to fight.

The young Vikings form a circle, with their backs on the inside so they had a pair of eyes in all directions. It was the only logical defensive move that they could come up with to combat an invisible dragon. Hiccup was deep in thought about this new dragon. "I don't know for certain, but I think the dragon can only attack while he's visible. That might suggest that it takes great concentration for him to turn invisible."

"That, or he's confident enough that he does not need to attack while invisible," Astrid added.

"Stealth capabilities, long claws, and bad temperament…our chances of survival are probably at twenty-five percent," Fishlegs commented.

Hiccup was concentrating too hard to hear what his friend had said. He felt his hair blow in a sudden gentle gust of wind. His nerves went on high alert. "Everyone separate now!"

"What?" Bitwolf growled. "That's…"

"Now!" Hiccup yelled.

Everyone scattered just as the Shadow Lord reappeared over where they had been and unleashed a rage of fire. All the young Vikings screamed, as they narrowly escaped the fiery breath.

* * *

Toothless had found a nice patch of garlic grass, and before he knew it, a good part of the morning had been spent rolling around in the grass in pure ecstasy. Under most circumstances, everything around him would just vanish out of existence while he found himself lost in the moment. However, this was not just any other moment. His dragon instincts had kicked into full gear. There was grave danger, and he instantly knew that Hiccup was in trouble.

Toothless quickly returned to his feet, with his round ears pointing upward. His pupils became fully contracted, and his eyes narrowed. Baring his teeth, he let out a war-cry growl. He knew exactly what the danger was. There was only one type of dragon that could get a Night Fury this riled up. There was only one that they deemed to be their mortal enemy, and that was the Shadow Lord.

It was bad enough that his mortal enemy had shown up on his home island, but he was threatening the Viking that he cared most about. This cannot be allowed to happen. Without hesitation, he ran as fast his legs could take him.

**Next Chapter Coming 3/23/11**


	8. The Shadow Lord

**Chapter 8: The Shadow Lord**

The young Vikings surrounded the massive dragon, which only had room to turn around by folding his tail. This natural growing trail was large, but this dragon made it feel much smaller. No one knew anything about the dragon that had attacked them, so everyone was hesitant to make the first move. Even Bitwolf seemed unnerved by this frightening beast.

While paying careful attention to the dragon's movement, Hiccup began to think of ways to calm the dragon down and make peace with him. The dragon looked blood thirsty, but that could be just because he was starving. According to Ivar's stories, the Shadow Lord was an evil dragon that would kill dragons and Vikings alike. The dragon's actions go along with the stories, but Hiccup was not willing to just buy into the stories so quickly.

The dragon turned in circles, seemingly trying to choose who to go after first. If he did not know better, it looked like he was determining which one of them would make easier prey. They did not have much time before the dragon made a decision.

Bitwolf has slid over next to Astrid while the dragon's back was towards them. "I'm gonna see if this thing has any weak spots. While I have its attention, get everyone into the forest and hide behind the trees. The dragon is too big to follow you there." He knew that their weapons would be useless against the Shadow Lord. He was more interested in impressing her. Helping to bring them all back home safely would go a long way to accomplishing that goal.

"Alright," Astrid replied, clearly less than thrilled with the plan. "Just be careful." She quietly side stepped towards Snotlout.

Bitwolf waited for the right moment to attack. He needed an open shot at the neck to get the dragon's attention. He cautiously stepped forward. In the corner of his eye, he could see that Astrid had successfully reached Snotlout and was in the process of whispering the plan.

"Get ready to make for the trees. The forest is too thick for the Dragon to follow."

"Got it," Snotlout gave her the thumbs up as he looked in Tuffnut's direction. "Hey, head for the forest!" He shouted from the top of his lungs

Astrid was so furious; she nearly rendered him unconscious right there on the spot. His shout pulled the dragon's attention towards them, sensing that something was happening.

As stupid as a move as it was, it was exactly what Bitwolf needed; he now had a clear shot for the neck. Raising his ax over his head, he took three running steps and threw his ax overhand. The ax spiraled all the way to its target, where the blade of the metal ax smacked into the creature's neck. As suspected, the ax did not impale through its neck, but bounced harmless away as if the dragon was made of stone.

The Shadow Lord swung his head, violently towards him; he had gained the dragon's full attention. It bared all of his teeth but did not turn and lunge for him. Fishlegs, who had been directly in the dragon's sight, ran for the woods, taking advantage of the distraction.

Astrid was nearly in his sights, now, as well. Any sudden movements on her or Snotlout's part could result in the dragon attacking them. She could not help but feel naked without her ax by her side. She had thrown it to save Hiccup from becoming lunch for the beast. She could see her weapon underneath his belly. She wanted to rush in and get it, but her limited knowledge of what they were up against kept her from doing something that suicidal.

The dragon had not moved at all towards Bitwolf. All it did was look at him and showed his teeth. He knew that the dragon, as angry towards him as it was, sensed what he was trying to do. The dragon was even more intelligent than he had heard. Before the dragon chose to lose interest in him, he took a slight step forwards and hollered towards the dragon. "Come on, you stupid dragon, fight me!"

The Shadow Lord wrinkled its snout at him, but made no moves towards him. What was the deal with this dragon? What was it going to take to get it to attack him?

"Bitwolf, look out!" Astrid yelled.

Her warning came too late. While the dragon had Bitwolf distracted with his mesmerizing stare, the dragon had slyly readied his tail for attack. He had not seen it coming, and the dragon's tail swept him off his feet. He hit the ground, head first, on top of a small rock, which rendered him unconscious.

"Snotlout and Tuffnut, get Bitwolf and drag him into the woods. I'll keep the dragon distracted!" Astrid ordered.

The two young Vikings nodded. As soon as Astrid stepped forward, the dragon's attention was pulled towards her. This provided the cover for Tuffnut and Snotlout to grab Bitwolf. From the corner of her eye, she could see Snotlout still holding onto his stone hammer. She moved quickly, spinning around and grabbing the hammer and pulled it out of his hands. "Wha-?"

"Just go!" Astrid replied, having spun around to face the dragon again. She could hear her friends dragging Bitwolf across the ground. If she was going to keep the dragon's attention on her, she had to act now. She let out her war cry and threw the hammer at the dragon's face.

The dragon flinched, and the stone head of the hammer was knocked away by his right giant horn. The attack infuriated him; but again, he did not spin around to face her. Astrid knew what was coming, and prepared herself. Reaching behind her, she pulled out a small knife hidden behind her belt. It was a small weapon, forged for her by Hiccup. It was a recent gift given to her for her birthday; it was a present that she cherished just as much as her trusty ax.

The dragon swung his tail to try to sweep her off her feet just like he did with Bitwolf; however, she was ready for it. She leaped over the tail and swung her knife viciously. "Hiya!"

The blade of her knife made contact, and with no scales that low on the tail of the dragon, her attack had drawn first blood. The Shadow Lord roared and swung its teeth in the air in pure rage. She had successfully provided enough distraction for everyone to make for the forest. Unfortunately, Fishlegs and Ruffnut had made their way towards one side of the trail, and everyone else was hiding behind trees on the other side.

The dragon was spinning in circles, looking for the Vikings who seemingly disappeared into thin air. A flash of lightning streaked across the sky as soft, wet pellets of rain began to fall. Hiding behind her tree, she looked to her right to account for everyone. Tuffnut and Snotloud had Bitwolf leaning up behind a tree, which was barley thick enough to hide them as well. She remembered seeing Fishlegs and Ruffnut running for the other side, so she assumed they were safe. There was just one Viking she could not account for. "Where's Hiccup?" She mouthed towards the others on her side.

The others gave her blank looks and shrugged. Something inside of her told her that she needed to find him quickly. Glancing over at the dragon, she noticed that he had stopped spinning around looking for them. Something had his full attention.

She quietly ran over to the next tree and when she was confident that the dragon had not seen her, she ran for the next. She was now hiding behind the same tree as Tuffnut and Snotlout. From this angle, she still did not have a clear view at what was in front of the dragon. She went to the next tree over, and then she had a good enough view. Hiccup had not gone into hiding.

Hiccup carefully stepped closer to the dragon with his hands in front of him. He was trying to show the dragon that he meant no harm. "Take it easy, no one's going to hurt you."

The Shadow Lord growled, but made no sudden moves to attack. Hiccup could see the confusion in the dragon's eyes. Perhaps his gamble was going to pay off, after all. Maybe this dragon could be reasoned with. Hiccup did not dare look the dragon in the eye. He kept his eyes towards the ground as he reached out with his right hand to try to touch the dragon on the nose. That was how he convinced Toothless that he meant him no harm. Maybe it would work on this dragon as well.

The dragon opened his jaws and a black gassy mist emanated from his throat. The dragon was about to breath fire, and immerse Hiccup in flames. Astrid had no idea if she was going to make it, but she had to try. She came running out from behind the tree, straight for Hiccup. "Hiccup!"

She tackled him to the ground just as the dragon unleashed the flames. She rolled underneath the neck of the dragon, pulling hiccup with her, to avoid being burned by the flames. "Hiccup, run!"

He did not have to be told again. He scrambled onto his feet and made for the closest tree to hide behind. Luck favored Astrid as she was found her ax on the ground right next to her. She quickly got back onto her feet and picked it up.

She made her way to the closest foot of the dragon and slammed the head of the ax onto his foot. He let out a roar more out of frustration than out of pain. She took the opportunity to get herself to safety. The rain, which was starting to flow more steadily now, made her escape trickier, but she was able to manage it.

She hid behind the same tree as Hiccup, where the two of them took a moment to catch their breath. "Are you crazy!" Astrid screamed at him, giving him a hard punch on his arm. "That's twice you've almost become lunch for that thing!"

Hiccup rubbed his now bruised arm. "I-I had to try."

"Hiccup, not all dragons are tame. I think we've seen enough to know that this one's hostile."

"Large hostile dragon, massive fire breathing capability…I think our survival rate has gone down to ten percent, now," Fishlegs said from behind his tree. Behind him, Ruffnut narrowed her eyes and shook her head in disdain for his sizing up of their situation.

Ruffnut returned her attention to the Shadow Lord and her eyes popped open in horror. "Uh, guys…"

All the Vikings looked out to see the dragon building up for a fiery attack. Pointing his head towards the tree tops and unleashed everything he had. The trees became engulfed in flames which straight away began to spread. The dragon spun quickly around to do the same for the other side of the trail.

"This is not good," Astrid said. Burning branches started to rain down around them on top of the rain that was slowly picking up. A crack of thunder only added to the seriousness of the situation. Going deeper through the woods was no longer an option. The smoke was already starting to become unbearable.

The young Vikings had no choice to escape the flames and return to the trail. The rain became a down pour, as if the heavens knew of the perilous situation they were in. The Shadow Lord gazed towards Hiccup and his group. The dragon had made his choice on who would be the first on his menu.

The dragon positioned himself to pounce when a loud high-pitched squeal echoed over the crashing of the thunder. The Shadow Lord quickly became enraged, recognizing the sound. Unable to detect from what direction the attack would come from. He looked through the flames on one side and then the other.

To the right, a puff of blue flames broke the wall of fire, which dealt a deadly blow to the wild fire that was burning that side of the forest. Leaping out of the darkness was toothless with his teeth and claws drawn. He landed onto the Shadow Lord's back and clenched his claws and teeth into the back of the dragon.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried, never having been happier to see him than he was at that very moment.

The Shadow Lord bellowed as it twisted his long body and bucked, trying to get the Night Fury off of him. Toothless held on to the best of his ability. He tried shaking his head, neck, and body. The Night Fury refused to let go.

The large dragon snapped his head back so hard that he ended up on his hind two legs. This time, Toothless could not hold on and was thrown into a burning tree. The Night Fury was quick to return to his feet, and was ready to go at it again. The two dragons circled around, keeping a close eye on the other.

Toothless shot a puff of blue flames into the face of the Shadow Lord. The large dragon let out a painful cry as he rubbed his face and snout with one of his front claws. He commenced the second stage of his attack and pounced at his nemesis, and plowed into his chest. The large dragon was knocked back onto his hind legs, as he frantically waved his claws to avoid falling onto his back. One of his flails caught Toothless on the front right leg, before he fell onto his back.

The Night Fury let out high-pitch whine as he backed away a few steps to assess his wound. A deep gash went up and down his leg with blood seeping from the wound. The injury was not serious, but it was going to be quite sore for awhile.

The Shadow Lord was back onto his feet, and was now even more furious than ever. Toothless limped back a few steps and showed his teeth again; he was not going to let a small wound stop him that easily.

Hiccup could not stand by and watch any longer. "I have to go help!"

"You'll be killed!" Astrid replied, grabbing a hold of his arm before he could depart.

"Toothless can't fly without me. If I don't help him, he's gonna get killed!"

Astrid knew that he was right. The Shadow Light could fly and was capable of turning invisible. Without Hiccup, Toothless was limited to ground assaults. It would not be very long before the Shadow Lord would get the upper hand and finish Toothless off. She released her hold on Hiccup's arm. "Okay. Good luck."

Hiccup nodded as he fought against his instincts and ran towards the melee. Toothless was directly between him and the Shadow Lord; as long as he stayed there for a few more seconds, he could safely jump up onto the saddle. As usual, though, the situation did not cooperate with him. The Shadow Lord unleashed a steady flow of flames at Toothless, who was able to leap out of the way, but the flames were now heading straight for Hiccup. He leaped to the side, narrowly missing the flames. He did not waste any time getting back onto his feet and continue his way towards Toothless.

The Shadow Lord leaped over Toothless' head with raised claw, reading to deliver a deadly slash. The smaller dragon defended himself and blew another puff of blue flames into the face of the Shadow Lord before hopping over to the dragon's other side to avoid collision.

The giant black dragon nearly crushed Hiccup who dropped to the ground barely in time. Temporarily blinded by the Night Fury's attack, the giant dragon staggered, almost as if he had drunken to much ale. Hiccup had to roll around and dodge the dragon's feet.

When the dragon had stopped his stomping, Hiccup quickly crawled far enough away so he could stand up. He now had a clear shot for Toothless, who now saw him coming to his aid. The dragon knelt down for Hiccup, making it easier for him to leap up onto the saddle. "Okay Toothless, let's take this to the sky."

Toothless grunted in agreement as he stretched out his wings. With a grin on his face, Toothless leaped and took to the sky with graceful speed and agility. The Shadow Lord watched looked up to see the belly of the Night Fury as it raced towards the sky above the tree tops. Fury fueled him as he spread his wings and took off after him.

Toothless' smaller stature allowed for him to gain momentum faster than his larger cousin. By the time the Shadow Lord made it to above the tree line, Toothless was already hiding in the storm clouds. The larger dragon hovered in place, twisting and turning, looking for the Night Fury. The rain had become heavy and burdensome as the dragon had to shake his head to prevent some water from getting into his eyes.

The high pitched shrilling war cry echoed through the sky, but there was no telling from what direction the sound was coming from. Though a Night Fury did not have natural stealth capabilities, it was a master of stealth none-the-less. They could hide in almost anything, and appear out of nowhere.

A blue fire ball came crashing through the clouds and hit the Shadow Lord in the neck. Toothless pierced through the clouds next and swiped by his neck, using his claws to leave a few small gashes in payback for his leg.

The Shadow Lord let out a cry of rage. He was done playing games; he should not have had gained so many injuries in his quest for food. His prey had shed too little blood, and that had to change, now. With a bitter growl, he activated his stealth capabilities and turned himself invisible.

"Where did he go?" Hiccup asked as he and Toothless flew below the cloud cover in search for the enemy.

Toothless swung his head from one direction to the other. Still unable to see the dragon, he went to his unfailing sense: the sense of smell. After sniffing the area, he let out an agitated growl. The Shadow Lord was still there somewhere.

Hiccup tried to think about this logically. The dragon was clearly intelligent. He had to get into the dragon's mind to figure out his next move. The task was not easy, having not seen this creature for very long. He also did not know much about the history of the Shadow Lord either. If Ivar's stories were true, the Shadow Lord was closely related to the Night Fury. He could definitely see the resemblance between the two. It was almost as if they were the two sides of the same coin: one was good while the other was evil. What kind of history did these two species have? Was it possible that these two species were so rare because they had hunted each other to near extinction?

There were so many questions unanswered in his mind, that it was hard for him to anticipate where the dragon might strike. A cold shiver went down his spine and a gut feeling began to hound on him. "Toothless, turn around!"

The Night Fury spun around violently, his tail just barely avoiding the jaws of the Shadow Lord, who had just reappeared. Toothless growled as they found themselves in the middle of a stare down.

The Shadow Lord showed nothing but hate in his eyes towards Toothless; but when he looked up to see Hiccup riding on his back, the rage turned into confusion. Never had the dragon seen a Viking and a dragon work together like this before. There was something unsettling with this alliance. The Shadow Lord understood that he was not just fighting one mind, but two. Even with someone as puny as the mini-Viking that rode on his back, he knew that together, they were much more formidable than he had originally anticipated.

The giant dragon growled before he turned himself invisible. "Not again!" Hiccup complained.

After a minute of anticipating an attack that did not come, Toothless sniffed the area out for the dragon. He, then, twisted his neck so he could see Hiccup at the corner of his eyes and let out a gentle moan. He did not smell the dragon; the Shadow Lord had left the fight.

Hiccup let out a sigh of relief as the rain continued to drench the young Viking. Cold, wet, and tired, the two of them made their way back down to his friends.

The first one to greet him was Astrid, who had been watching the battle very closely. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Hiccup admitted. "He took a look at me on top of Toothless and vanished."

Looking up at him, Astrid noticed his heavy breathing and the rings that were under his eyes. "You look exhausted."

Hiccup did not reply, but he was indeed glad that this was all over for now. "I-I have to take Toothless back and tend to his wounds. Do you think you can get everyone back to the village?"

"Don't worry about us," she replied. "We'll see you back home."

Hiccup nodded as he petted Toothless across the neck. "Come on, Toothless, let's get going."

The group of Vikings watched as Hiccup and Toothless took to the sky. After they were out of sight, Bitwolf let out a moan. Everyone gathered around him as he opened his eyes. Confused and disoriented, he looked around at his surroundings. The wild fire that was burning the forest was all but put out by the downpour of rain. "What happened? Where did the dragon go?"

This was going to take some fine explaining mixed with some little white lies.


	9. The Little White Lie

**Chapter 9: The Little White Lie**

Bitwolf was now presented with a serious dilemma. Telling Ivar that the dragon was here could seriously jeopardize his father's plan, but not telling him would raise suspicion with his 'friends'. Besides, one of them was no doubt going to brag about surviving an encounter with the mythical beast, so keeping this quiet was not an option.

The problem, now, was what to tell Ivar. Bitwolf had no doubt that they had survived because of Hiccup's ability to control or communicate with dragons, but there was no way Ivar would accept that, and all the blame would shift onto him. That would make Hiccup a bigger threat to discover what his father was up to.

What was needed was a way to make Hiccup look bad in all of this, even in the eyes of Astrid and the others. So on the journey back, he inquired about what happened while he was unconscious. Whatever lie she told him, would have to be the lie he agreed with. At the very least, if the lie turned out to be poorly conceived, then all the blame would come crashing down on Berk's young Vikings.

After hearing the explanation, he could not see anything that would hinder his father's plans any more than what has already been done. Of course, his father would have to be the ultimate judge of how damaged the situation, actually, was; he had a better understanding of the plan that he had set forth, and he would be the one to be able to make any adjustments necessary. Being able to tell his father before going public with this would help limit any damage that Bitwolf could not see. When they arrived back to the village, however, that opportunity never came.

One of the very first Vikings they saw were Ivar and Wolfbane together as they entered the village. Seeing all of them soaked, muddy, and bruised, Ivar could instantly tell that something had happened. He ordered all of them into the dining hall to get out of the rain and to inform him what had happened. On the way to the dining hall, Bitwolf only had the opportunity to use his eyes to tell his father to embrace himself for some devastating news.

Now, inside the dining hall, Bitwolf's nerves were even more on edge as the young Vikings were sat around a table and given a mug full of warm goat's milk. Standing at the end of the table were Ivar, Wolfbane, Stoick, and Gobber. "By the looks of it, you had quite an adventure this morning. Who wants to tell me what happened?" Ivar asked.

This was the moment he dreaded. If he did not tread carefully, his father would skin him alive. He looked over at the others, and he could see a smile of excitement on the faces of most of the gang. Astrid was the only one who remained solemn. She was always the one with the cool head. "We were attacked by a dragon, sir. I'm fairly sure that it was a Shadow Lord."

All the adult Vikings were shocked. Bitwolf could see a fire ignite in Ivar's eyes. "Are you certain of it, boy?"

"Fairly certain; the dragon could turn itself invisible, and it fits the description down to the littlest detail."

"Wow, they do exist! Just like those pesky trolls that keep stealing my left socks!" Gobber exclaimed.

"And how did you all survive?"

Bitwolf grimaced in embarrassment. "I think it will be better for Astrid to answer that. The dragon fooled me, and knocked me out with his tail."

All the eyes pointed towards Astrid. "We're not quite sure what happened," she replied. "It could've been the thunder," She admitted. Bitwolf gazed towards her, hoping and praying that she did not change her story to that. He prayed that she would keep to her original story. "It also could've been Hiccup's strange invention that scared it off. Either way, something spooked it, and it flew away."

A wave of relief washed over Bitwolf, who looked over to see what his father's reaction would be. He remained in character perfectly. He then looked over to Ivar to see him agitated by Astrid's report. The Viking Chief then looked at him. "Is this report correct? Did Hiccup have a strange looking weapon with him when you left here?"

He could feel the pleading eyes staring in his direction from the gang. They were pleading with him not to disagree with them. He looked back to his father, who at last looked down at him with the corner of his eye and gave the slightest of nods. "He did have something with him, but I did not inquire about it."

Ivar looked at all the young Vikings sitting at the table to see that the boy was nowhere to be seen. "Where is Hiccup?"

That lie was a little more difficult to come up with. Astrid had never lied before in her life. Her father was very strict, and had ingrained into her to always speak the truth. Having to lie made her extremely uncomfortable. "I believe his device broke so we parted ways. He's probably at the blacksmith shop." It suddenly dawned on her how bad of a lie that was. There was no way he would be back from tending to Toothless yet.

Ivar glowered at Stoick. "Come with me. I must speak with the boy."

Stoick reluctantly followed Ivar out into the pouring rain towards the blacksmith shop. Wolfbane walked upto his son and gave him a friendly slap across the back. "You did well. All of you have done very well." Wolfbane said to the gang. "Son, come speak with me for a minute."

"Sure, Dad," Bitwolf said, standing up from the table.

As he did, he felt Astrid grab him by the shoulder. "Thank you," she said, totally grateful for covering their lies.

Bitwolf nodded and then followed his father to the far end of the dining hall, so they could be alone. The sound of thunder shook the ground as nature continued to pour out its rain upon Berk. As soon as the rumble of thunder subsided, his father began this much needed conversation. "You have done well in salvaging what could have been an utter disaster for both of us."

"Thank you, Dad," Bitwolf replied, feeling a great burden being lifted off his shoulder. He was afraid that he had messed everything up for his father.

"This untimely situation can still work in my favor. No doubt Ivar will go hunting for the Shadow Lord tomorrow. He will bring Hiccup with him to show him how his invention works."

"But dad, Hiccup did not have any other weapon other than a knife and a shield."

"I am fully aware of that. That girl that you like is a terrible liar. Someone will get word to the boy about the lie to cover his actions, forcing him to build a real device. What I need from you is to sabotage that weapon once it's built. I will make sure that the expedition fails."

"Understood, you can count on me."

"I know I can," Wolfbane smiled. "We have no more time to waste; we have to speed up my plan. You must sever Hiccups ties with his friends and pretty little girl friend. You must find a way to learn how he controls the dragons and gets them to obey him."

"I have an idea about that."

* * *

Marching as a Viking on a mission, Ivar stormed towards the blacksmith shop. Stoick had no idea what was going through his head; Ivar always seemed angry. "My son has always had a wild imagination. You should see some of his inventions that he came up with. He even created a bola launcher."

Ivar held up a hand to silence him. He was in no mood for small talk. He was a Viking with a deep focus, and he never allowed himself to be deviated from his path. Their boots sloshed through the saturated ground which was becoming more mud than solid ground. When they finally reached the blacksmith Ivar stormed into the shop to find it deserted. He snorted as he turned his focus onto Stoick. "Tomorrow, when this storm is over, we're going hunting for that Shadow Lord. Your son will be joining us, and I want to see this invention of his that can scare such a dragon. I'd better be impressed."

Ivar left Stoick alone in the shop as he made his way towards his hut. "Oy!" Stoick muttered, rubbing his forehead. This whole thing has gotten much more complicated than he had anticipated. How were they going to handle this mess?

"Sir," Astrid said softly, peeking into the shop.

"What is it, Astrid?" Stoick said, glad to have had a chance to speak with her alone. He could now get behind what really happened out there.

She came out of the rain and into the shop. "I'm sorry if I caused any problems, I'm not a very good liar."

"It's fine. I just need to know what really happened out there."

"Most everything that was said was the truth, except for the invention and Hiccup being here at the Shop. I didn't know how to explain his not being in the village. I made up the invention because I thought it unwise to let Ivar know that it was Toothless who came to save the day."

"Toothless? Did Bitwolf see Toothless?"

"No, he was knocked out before all that happened. He awakened just after Hiccup flew off with Toothless to tend to his wounds."

Stoick sighed with relief. They had caught a big break there. "Thank you for letting me know."

Astrid nodded and left the shop to head home. Now that Stoick knew the truth, he could decide what steps he and his son had to take next. As much as he hated the thought about making a journey through the rain, he needed to be the first one to speak with his son. To assure that happened, he would have to go to where the dragons were being hidden.

* * *

The rain was relentless. Soaked to his bone, Hiccup was not ready to return to the village yet. After arriving back to the field with all the other dragons, he went off to find as many Aloe Vera leaves as he could get. Once he found enough, he started to gently wipe them across the wound on Toothless' leg. The dragon yelp and then looked at Hiccup and growled.

"Sorry! I guess I should've warned you that this might sting a little."

Toothless shook his head and huffed as he looked forward to allow Hiccup to apply the leaves onto his wound. Over the sound of the rain, Hiccup could hear the sloshing of the mud behind him. He glanced over to see his father walking towards him. "Is your dragon okay?"

"Uh, Yeah, Toothless will be fine," Hiccup replied.

"That's good," Stoick replied. There was an awkward silence between the two. Despite the improvement in their relationship in recent months, neither of them were really good at striking up conversations. "Listen, we need to talk. When your friends came back, they covered for you and Toothless. They told Ivar that one of your contraptions scared off the dragon. I need you to create something small that you can use to scare away a large dragon by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow! There's no way I can come up with something that fast!" Hiccup jumped to his feet.

"That is why Gobber is going to help you. Ivar is taking you with us tomorrow to hunt for the Shadow Lord. He is expecting you to produce the same results in front of him."

"Oh boy," Hiccup shook his head. His mind was reeling with everything his father had just told him. "Wouldn't it just be easier to tell Ivar the truth, now? This is getting waaaaay too complicated."

"That is not an option, Hiccup. The damage is already done, and we have to see it through. He will not take it lightly if he discovers that we've been deceiving him." Stoick replied firmly. After seeing Hiccup contemplate what to do, he finally broke the silence. "What about the Shadow Lord? From what I understand, that dragon is beyond reasoning with."

"I don't know yet, Dad," Hiccup replied. "It definitely saw us as his next meal, but perhaps he was starving."

"Did you make any attempt to calm it down? You are the dragon whisperer around here."

Hiccup sighed and shrugged. "Yes, and it seemed to have no interest in peace, just his next meal."

"Then that's good, then!" Stoick said. "We do not have to go out of our way to protect it. We let Ivar kill the dragon, and then he will leave Berk."

"I don't know."

"Hiccup, That dragon tried to kill all of you. It probably has already had the taste of human blood. If it comes down to its survival or ours, I still have no hesitation in killing a dragon. You have to be ready to do the same. The one thing you have taught me is that dragons are not all that dissimilar to us. Well, there are good Vikings and there are Evil Vikings in the world, so it only stands to reason that the same goes for the beasts. This Shadow Lord might be an evil dragon that has to be dealt with. Do you understand, son?"

"I think so, Dad." Hiccup said dryly. He knew his father was right. Just like there are unreasonable Vikings, there is sure to be unreasonable dragons. Whether the Shadow Lord was one of them, was yet to be seen. He had to deal with the Red Death several months ago, and if he had to do the same to the Shadow Lord, then he had to be ready to do so again.


	10. Sabotage

**Chapter 10: Sabotage**

Hiccup and Gobber stood there at Hiccup's drawing board staring at a blank piece of paper. They have been there for at least an hour, as hiccup sought inspiration from his wild imagination. This device had to be something that was small enough for him to carry, but violent enough to ward off any predator, without actually killing them. That was one condition he had for this device. It had to look violent without actually being so. If something went awry with his father's plan, he did not want any other Viking taking the device and using it to kill a dragon. If they were talking about the Shadow Lord, he did not have much to worry about in that aspect, but what if they encountered a smaller dragon? He could not take the chance of an innocent dragon ending up dead to cover up their lies.

"I don't know about you, but I'm scared just looking it! Perhaps the Shadow Lord will be scared by looking at this, here, sheet of paper, as well," Gobber said, using his dry humor to tell Hiccup that they need to get going on something.

Hiccup frowned. "This isn't as easy it looks? I've never had to come up with an idea—and build it—all on one night, you know? I need something inspiring… something to get the creative juices flowing."

"How's this for inspiring—if you don't get this blasted contraption started, then Ivar is going to skin you alive."

"Not helping!" Hiccup glowered.

The rainstorm, outside, was finally calming down, and a gentle breeze was left behind. A small gust of wind entered the shop, which caused the sheet of paper to flap. If He had not had it pinned down with a few rocks, it would have flown away. "Ah, look, it moved." Gobber said dryly as he pointed to the paper. "Perhaps that's inspiration for you."

Hiccup gave him a look of frustration.

* * *

Hiccup finished drawing out plans onto the sheet of paper. An idea had come to him like a bolt of lightning. The woods were scorched where they encountered the Shadow Lord, so perhaps he could use that to his advantage. "Here it is," Hiccup announced confidently.

"Wow, will you look at that! What is it?"

"It's kind of like a miniature catapult, but it will launch burning ammunition and should scare the dragon away."

"I see," Gobber replied. "How do you plan on setting the ammunition on fire if your little doohickey is made of wood?"

"Um—" Hiccup did not think about that.

"Otherwise, the concept seems flawless—if you don't take into account that fire does not scare dragons. The beast breaths this stuff, for Odin's sake."

"Oh, yeah," Hiccup mumbled. He took the plans that he drew out and crumbled it up. After throwing the crumpled paper onto the floor, he took out another blank piece of paper and re-commenced contemplating for ideas.

* * *

Hiccup sketched out another idea that came to his mind. He drew out plans for a miniature version of his bola launcher. He estimated that it would end up being half the size of the original model. "How about this!"

Gobber scratched his bearded chin with his finger tips as he looked at the great details that the boy had put into the sketch. "Your full scale model is less than reliable; not to mention that you're—all that!" He used his good hand to gesture to all of him. He was right, this was still going to be too heavy to carry along for long distance, and it invited his tendency to be clumsy to make another appearance at an inopportune time.

With that idea scratched, he drew out more plans for consideration. One by one, Gobber kept out pointing flaw after flaw with each of his ideas. The floor quickly began to be flooded with crumpled paper. With each plan that he scrapped, Hiccup became more and more frustrated. Most of the flaws usually had something to do with his lack of strength. "Oh, why did the gods curse me with such a pathetic body?"

"Cause they have a sense of humor," His dry humor once again reared its ugly head.

"Thank you, so very much for that!"

* * *

Finally, an idea had come to Hiccup. He remembered that he and toothless had scratched the dragon during battle. So the weapon he made had to cause that kind of damage. It was a well known fact that he could not use an ax, and it was hardly believable to say that he could get close enough to use his knife to scratch the dragon. That was when he came up with an idea: an arrow.

A bow and arrow were hardly the Viking way of battle, but it would be something that Ivar would believe Hiccup would use. If he could make something to shoot the arrows for him, then he might be able to pull this off. The device had to be capable of shooting an arrow by itself in the same way his bola launcher did. What he needed to make was a crossbow.

He drew out the plans on paper and displayed it for Gobber to see. "Now this look's interesting!" Gobber admitted. "That is, if your plan is to make a total fool of yourself in front of Ivar."

"What choice do I have? Maybe I can convince him that I got a lucky shot off, injuring the dragon, and it flew away in search for an easier meal."

"Well, I suppose it's better than nothing at all. You could always pray to Thor that he will strike the beast down with a lightning bolt."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Hiccup replied dryly.

"Glad to be of some help."

* * *

Hiccup and Gobber had begun constructing the crossbow. This crossbow was going to be different from the ones that he read about. He figured that if he could launch about five arrows quickly, that it might just actually scare off a dragon. So in the designs, he made the body of the crossbow big enough to store five arrows. By turning the crank, he could launch the five arrows in rapid succession. It was going to be quick, portable, and effective.

Gobber started by forging some cast iron to serve as the prod, while Hiccup started carving up some wood. As he was sawing a piece of wood, he took a quick glance out the window to see Astrid and Bitwolf walking alone through the village. Seeing them walking together continued to make his blood boil. The angrier he became, the faster and harder he sawed the wood.

Gobber looked back at the boy and rolled his eyes. He stopped what he was doing and walked up to Hiccup. He placed his good hand on top of his scalp and turned his head back forward. "You need to pay closer attention to what you're doing, Hiccup; unless you were intentionally were trying to give yourself one of these," He twisted his interchangeable prosthetic hand, which currently had a blacksmith hammer connected on to it. "If so, then you're doing a bang-up job."

Hiccup sighed and the two of them got back to work. Staying focus at the job at hand, the two of them worked until late at night. Finally, his fancy new crossbow was finished. It was skillfully designed to break down and be able to carry it inconspicuously. The stone heads of the arrows were extremely sharp, that it might convince Ivar that it was responsible for scratching the dragon, if the chief Viking ever got close enough to see it. "It's done!" Hiccup said with a great sigh of relief; he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Excellent! Maybe the gods will bless you with good fortune tomorrow."

"One can only hope," Hiccup said after letting out a huge yawn.

"Off to bed you go, now. Tomorrow is a big day."

* * *

Wolfbane brought, with him, two of his most trusted Vikings. They were his closest friends, who would gladly give their lives for him at any time necessary. They knew, full well, that he was planning on killing Ivar, and they gave him their undying loyalty.

They carried their torches through the forests. The two Vikings had no idea where they were being taken. Could it be that their friend had discovered the Shadow Lord's nest? "There's something I need for you to do for me. We're going to sabotage tomorrow's hunt for the Shadow Lord."

"Alright, but why are we all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

They came upon a large field with flowing stream in the middle. The field was saturated with dragons of various breeds. Never had the two of them seen so many dragons together in one location. Fortunately, for them, most of them were fast asleep. They pulled out their axes, ready to take advantage of the surprise that was going to be on their side.

"Stay your weapons!" Wolfbane ordered. "These dragons belong to the Vikings of Berk."

"They own dragons? Is that even possible?"

"They are more like pets, but none of that matters, right now; what does matter, is your job. I want you to hide out here overnight, and pick out one of the least intelligent dragons you find. Tomorrow morning, I want you to lure that dragon over to the other side of the village where we will be heading. This will make a perfect opportunity for Hiccup to test his weapon."

"What if the dragon survives tomorrow? That boy couldn't kill a rabbit if his life depended upon it."

"You don't have to worry about that. At the very worse, we'll be offering the Shadow Lord a free lunch. I must warn you, however, there is a Night Fury hiding among these beasts."

"A-a-a Night Fury?" Both Vikings quaked in their boots at the thought of encountering such a dragon. They were highly intelligent, and extremely dangerous.

"Yes, the dragon belongs to the boy. Stay clear from that beast, or it will, more than likely, try to protect the dragons with violence."

The two Vikings looked at each other, starting to wonder if this was a good idea after all.

* * *

With the lights out, Bitwolf knew that it was safe to enter the blacksmith shop. He entered the dark shop with only a single hand-held torch to light his way. He did not dare to bring any more light into the shop, in order to avoid any suspicion. He had to embrace the darkness, and allow it to guide him towards the completion of his mission.

He carefully used the light from his torch to look around the shop. He was cautious not to crash into any tables or weapons that might alert someone of his presence. It was not an easy task to do; the shop had so little walking space among all weapons that were lying around. How any large Vikings got around in there was beyond him.

He began to question if he would ever find the right weapon. There were many typical Viking weapons, but the shop also appeared to partially serve as a storage place for all of Hiccups crazy inventions. How would he know which one he was considering in using?

On a table, he noticed a large piece of paper weighed down by two small rocks. Upon closer inspection, the drawings on the paper were actually a blueprint. This had to be the weapon that he and Gobber had been working on, all this time. When he saw that Hiccup had decided to go with a strange looking crossbow, he shook his head in disgust. "A crossbow? That is the most cowardly weapon I have ever seen."

Lying on the table next to the plans, was the actual weapon. There it was! He was more certain than ever that this was the weapon he was going to use tomorrow morning. This was going to work better than he or his father had planned.


	11. The Hunt

**Chapter 11: Dragon Hunt**

The sun was starting to rise, which meant it was time for Wolfbane's friends, Bonetoss and Snakewhisp, to start luring a dragon towards the other side of the Island. Bonetoss sneaked through the surrounding forest until he could reach a part of the stream without being seen by the dragons. Bringing only a spear with him, he waited at the bank until he could see a large trout swimming through his strike zone. Using his superb fishing skills, he jabbed his spear through the fish and pulled his catch out of the water.

Now that the bait had been caught, they were ready to look for a dragon. The dragons were just starting to wake up, and the first thing they were going to look for was food. They took a minute to watch the behaviors of all the dragons to determine which one was the least intelligent. They came to a decision to set the bait for a Gronckle.

The unsuspecting dragon snorted and grunted as it sniffed through the grass. His small wings flapped similarly to a hummingbird, which allowed his over-sized body to hover over the grass. The morning dew dampened his nose as he sniffed around, which occasionally resulted with a sneeze. The tantalizing smell of fish grabbed his attention, and he began to follow the smell to what he hoped would be his morning meal.

He found the fish right on the edge of the forest, just laying there, enticing the chubby dragon to eat it. Letting out an excited snarl, he flew awkwardly towards the fish. Just as he was about to gobble the fish up, it moved closer to the forest. Thinking nothing of it, he was willing to fly the few extra feet to his breakfast. The fish moved once again, and this time into the forest.

Bonetoss and Snakewhisp chuckled at the humorous sight. "Hehehe, stupid dragon!" Bonetoss whispered to his pal who was behind him.

When he looked back around, the fish was gone. The two dumbfounded Vikings looked up to see the Gronckle finish off his free meal and then look straight at the two of them. "Wh-wh-what are the dragon's weaknesses? I forgot!"

"I don't remember!" Snakewhisp snapped.

The two petrified Vikings stood still as the Gronckle sniffed them. After a few seconds of sniffing, the dragon let out a playful groan; and if the Vikings did not know better, the dragon was also smiling.

"Uh, come this way! We'll take you to some more food!" The two Vikings cautiously stepped backwards, encouraging the dragon to follow.

The dragon was more than willing to follow. After having a nice sized fish digesting in his belly, he was all for some playing with these nice Vikings. He followed the Vikings into the forest. Most dragons would not be able to maneuver through the thickness of the forest, but luckily, the Gronckle was known for its maneuverability.

Further in the field, Toothless let out a giant yawn, waking up from a very restful sleep. His leg was a little tender, but it would not affect his walking. He looked around to make sure everything was at peace. Most of the dragons were just waking up as well, but over by the edge of the forest, he noticed a Gronckle playfully following after two Vikings into the forest. He let out a curious moan and tilted his head, wondering what was going on.

Stranding and stretching his legs and back, he decided to follow them to see what was going on. Perhaps, the time had come for them to return to the village. If that was where they were going, he decided that he would give Hiccup a big surprise. The only problem was that he could not follow directly behind them; the trees were too close together for him to fit through. He decided to take another path; one where he would be able to walk through and keep an eye out on the Vikings and the Gronckle without being seen himself.

* * *

Hiccup's heart was racing in his chest. Every nerve in his body was on edge as he dragged his feet towards the edge of the village, where he was to meet with Ivar and the hunting party. He began to question this whole plan, and doubt began to creep into his soul, whether or not this weapon was going to work. It felt like he was walking towards his execution.

As he neared the meeting location, he spotted a sea of large, bulky Vikings. Any sane person would have turned the other way and run from this terrifying sight, especially if they were Roman. Dozens of eyes were all pointing at him as he drew closer. His father stood beside Ivar as if he was the elder Viking's apprentice. He never imagined anyone to be more frightening than his father.

Walking up in front of Ivar, Hiccup could not muster enough courage and strength to look up at the legendary chief in the eyes. Even with his eyes to the ground, he could feel his eyes piercing down on him like spears. "So, show me this weapon of yours."

Hiccup raised his assembled crossbow that he and Gobber spent all yesterday afternoon and evening on. A few chuckles came from the group of Viking warriors, as Ivar raised his eyebrow. "A crossbow? Are you serious? This is a weapon of those Roman dogs."

"Well, I did make some adjustments to it, making it a little deadlier."

"Ha, this weapon's a joke. If an ax or a spear cannot penetrate the Shadow Lord's scales, what makes you think an arrow would do any better?"

"Uh, will it kill the Shadow Lord... no; but seeing the dragon first hand, I can assure you, that the dragon does have some unprotected areas. With the forest burning, the rain, the lightning, and a very lucky shot, I think it was enough to cause the dragon to retreat," Hiccup responded with a boldness that he had never shown before. He had no idea where it came from, but the smile and the nodding of his father's head, gave him a warm feeling that he had done right.

Ivar seemed to be impressed that the boy was standing his ground against him, though he refused to show it through his demeanor. "Very well, let's see what this crossbow of yours can do. Let's go kill ourselves a Shadow Lord."

* * *

They were well on their way on their journey, retracing the steps that the group of young Vikings from the day before. Hiccup was forced to stay up front along with Ivar, Stoick, and Wolfbane, who dwarfed over him. He could not help but pray to the gods that the Shadow Lord had left the island.

They came to the part of the trail where the confrontation had taken place. The trees were scorched, and there was a distinct overwhelming smell of burnt lumber. "This is where the dragon attacked us."

Ivar raised his hand to signal for the hunting party to stop. He stepped forward and inspected the area. The grass was muffled and torn with definite signs of a large dragon walking around. To his dismay, there were no scales to be found. After he was satisfied, he turned to face his fellow Vikings. "Let's continue on, and see if we can find its nest."

"Chief, look!" Wolfbane announced, pointing forward.

He turned back around to see a single Gronckle flying around, sniffing the unfamiliar territory. It was not the dragon Ivar was hoping to see, and that fact that it was here meant that there was a very small chance of encountering the Shadow Lord today. Ivar was not going to kill the dragon, to do so would almost be insulting to his fine reputation. It would not even stand a shadow of chance against him.

He looked over at Hiccup and the weapon in his hand. While this was not the test he had imagined giving the boy, it was better than nothing. "Hiccup, it appears that the gods have shown you some favor. You have an easy test subject for your invention. Show me what this weapon of yours is capable of." Ivar walked up to the boy and shoved him forward.

"Y-y-you want me to kill the Gronckle?"

"This is your chance, boy, to prove to me everything that you and your father have been claiming. Kill that dragon."

Never had he been so nervous in his life. If there was any time for the gods to stop playing practical jokes on him, now would be the time. If he killed the dragon, it would solve all of his problems, but his conscience would haunt him for years to come. If he refused to kill the dragon, who knows what he and his father would endure under Ivar's wrath.

He prepped the crossbow; the shaking of his hands made it very difficult to hold the weapon, let alone prep it. He would have had no problems shooting this weapon at a Shadow Lord, knowing that it would not kill the dragon, but a Gronckle was an entirely different story. It would be easy to kill a Gronckle with the type of arrows that he and Gobber had created. He aimed the crossbow at the dragon, as his soul and mind were at war with his body.

* * *

Toothless walked through the woods, having followed the two Vikings and the Gronckle. He noticed that the two Vikings were hiding behind trees, but where did the dragon go? He walked forwards a few steps and found a giant path up ahead. He could see the Gronckle flying around and exploring the area.

Letting out a confused moan, he was ready to join the dragon into the field when he looked to the left to see a crowd of Vikings. Up in front of them was Hiccup. He was pointing some kind of weapon at the unsuspecting dragon. His fury raged as he realized what had happened. The two Vikings had brought the Gronckle here to be hunted down. This could not be allowed to happen.

He was ready to pounce when he saw the two Vikings, who had brought the dragon here sneak away and made their way back towards the other dragons. Toothless growled angrily; he was not going to let them get to the other dragons.

* * *

"Kill it!" Ivar screamed.

The Gronckle looked up towards the Viking, distracted him from his exploring. He was ready to fly over to greet them when he noticed that the smallest of them had something pointed towards him.

"Oh, man, what do I do?" Hiccup mumbled to himself; his hands barely able to hold onto the crossbow with all the shaking.

He looked down at the weapon in his hands, and through all the shaking, he noticed something about the looks of it that did not seem right. "I-I-I think there's a problem with it. Let me make a few adjustments and—"

Ivar was furious; he was tired of the delay tactics. He stormed up to Hiccup and ripped the crossbow from the boy's hands. He looked back to one of his own Vikings and called him forward. "You, kill that dragon with this weapon. I want to see this weapon in use."

The Viking grunted with approval and he gladly accepted the crossbow and took a quick second to see how it worked. It did not take him very long, as he pointed the crossbow at the dragon. His hand found the crank and he began to rotate the crank. The string began to pull back, as it was supposed to, but then some unseen error occurred. The rope snapped forward without throwing out an arrow, and the violence of the malfunction caused great pain to strike his fingers. "Yow!" He yelped as he dropped the weapon to the ground.

"I told you, I think there is a problem with it!" Hiccup defended himself.

Ivar huffed, no longer caring what words came from the boy's mouth. In his opinion, he had been tricked by a deceptive lie concocted by the boy and his father to embarrass him. "Wolfbane, kill the dragon, and let's go back to the village."

"My pleasure," He replied with a grin, carrying a large battle ax in his hand as he stepped forward.

"No, wait! I think I can fix the crossbow!" Hiccup ran over to grab the weapon from the ground, hoping to buy the dragon enough time to escape.

He grabbed the crossbow and began to make some quick modifications. When he tried to reseat the string, it again snapped violently forward, causing him to stumble backwards. He tripped on a rock, and as he fell backwards, the crossbow went flying straight into WolfBane's face. "Ah, you clumsy oaf!" He yelled, dropping his ax to the ground and covering his bloody nose with both of his hands.

"Uh, oops?" The familiar feeling of shame and embarrassment was quick to reintroduce themselves. He could feel all the angry scowls upon him, as he wished that he had the same powers of the Shadow Lord, and could turn himself invisible at that moment. This whole thing could not have gone any worse, but he did find some comfort as he noticed that the dragon had disappeared into the forest.

Ivar's face was red with rage. "I have seen enough. We're heading back."


	12. Suspicion

**Chapter 12: Suspicion**

Bonetoss and Snakewhisp made it back to the field of dragons. Without being seen by the beasts, they had arrived at the spot where they had slept overnight. With their job done, they could pack up and head back to the village. Confident that they were going to get praised for their work, they began to pack up their belongings and try to erase all evidence of their presence there.

"So, you think that boy embarrassed himself out there?" Snakewhisp grinned.

"That boy's a walking menace. There's no way he could've killed the Shadow Lord Dragon."

"What do you think Wolfbane has planned with this mythical dragon?"

Bonetoss shrugged. "I'm sure he wants to get rid of Ivar so he can have the glory of killing it. We've all been living underneath Ivar's shadow for too long."

The two Vikings chuckled, but as they finished their laugh, they were greeted with the sound of growling. Both Vikings froze in place and cautiously looked up. Standing in front of them was a Night Fury. The dragon's eyes were full of rage, as bared his teeth to confirm his anger.

"Th-th-that's the night fury!"

"He looks pretty mad," Bonetoss replied.

"Maybe if you carefully reach for the spear…" he pointed to the spear, laying up against a treeto their right, with his eyes."

"Me? How about _YOU_ get that spear! I'm closer to the dragon than you; he'll rip my arm off!"

"And your arm's more important than mine?" Snakewhisp responded.

Toothless roared, shaking his head as means to intimidate the Vikings. It worked; Bonetoss made a dash for the spear out of panic. The dragon leaped, and landed between the Viking and the weapon. He made it clear to the two Vikings that they had made a wrong decision going for that weapon. He swung his head violently like a wild, untamed beast ready for a fight.

"Forget this, I'm running!" Snakewhisp replied, running in the opposite direction of the dragon. Bonetoss was in full agreement, and join his friend, heading back to the village.

Toothless continued to romp around until he was certain the Vikings were not going to come back. Once he was convinced, Toothless snorted as he shook his head; his job of protecting the dragons was done for now.

* * *

Ivar was too furious to talk with anyone. Even from the shop, he could still feel his rage radiating into Berk's atmosphere. Hiccup was too scared to leave the shop to find out if the word of what had happened had spread through the village, yet. He took this time alone to look at his invention. If Ivar's Vikings had not tried to fire the weapon, he would have had an easier time figuring out what exactly went wrong with it.

He backtracked in its original assembly order, to better keep track of what worked and what did not. Perhaps he could discover what he had missed. As he slowly disassembled the crossbow, he could not find any flaws with his logic. "I don't get it, what went wrong?" He said out of frustration.

He began to look at the individual pieces and fidgeted with each moving piece. When it came to the hook that was supposed to grab and stretch the string, he noticed that there was no coil resistance.

"Hmm, that's strange."

He dissected that piece of the crossbow, and saw that the hook was deformed and installed completely wrong. The problem was so obvious; there was no way he could have made this kind of mistake. There could be no doubt that someone else had tampered with the crossbow overnight.

"So, I heard about the catastrophe, this morning," Bitwolf entered the shop at the most inopportune time.

"Well, you know how it is; stories always manage to get distorted the more times it gets told." Hiccup replied.

"Sometimes, but this is _YOU_, we're talking about. Is there really ever a need to exaggerate your stories?"

Hiccup frowned, trying to keep himself from getting angry. "What's your problem? Have I offended your family honor or something?"

"Not at all, I just should've known better than to trust your ability to make an invention that works."

"My crossbow worked just fine," he said defensively. He had to choose his next words very carefully, because someone messed around with his invention, and it had to be someone in Bitworlf's tribe. "It just ran into some—problems."

"Astrid defended you, and I decided to go along with this deception; now, you've just embarrassed us all. The least you could've done was put the weapon together properly."

Hiccup paused, taking careful notice to what he had just said. How did Bitwolf know what the problem was? He never had a chance to see the crossbow before it was taken out on the hunt. The adult Vikings would not even care to know, what exactly went wrong; all they cared about was that it did go wrong.

"You can try to embarrass me all you want, I don't care, but to embarrass your friends like that—to embarrass Astrid—is not an act of a good friend. A friend is supposed to be honorable and dependable."

"I'm very dependable when it comes to my friends," Hiccup protested.

"You may think so, but would your friends agree?" Bitwolf turned and made his way for the door. When he opened it, he found Gobber standing there, ready to come into the shop.

Gobber had heard the conversation, and he looked down at the boy with a frown on face. "Out of the shop with you, lad."

"Yes, sir," Bitwolf replied.

Gobber stepped aside to allow the young Viking to leave. Once he was gone, he stepped into the shop with a disheartened Hiccup. "Don't let him get to you, Hiccup. He has no idea what he's talking about. You're as loyal as they come."

"That's not what's bothering me," he replied turning to the table where his weapon was sprawled out in pieces. "I don't think this was an accident. I think the crossbow was sabotaged, and I—I think it was…"

"Now, hold your horses, Hiccup. Your weapon was not sabotaged. We were up very late last night working on it, and we were both tired. We probably made some mistake in the end."

"I'm telling you, I don't think it was us, at all. I wouldn't make this kind of mistake."

"No one's perfect, Hiccup, and no one is certainly blaming you for what happened." Hiccup's raised his right eyebrow, challenging his last statement. "Okay, no one is blaming you besides Ivar... and Bitwolf… and Wolfbane… Okay, pretty much everyone from Ivar's tribe. The point is, we'll find a way to get through this mess."

"Yeah, but will I have any friends left when it's over." Hiccup said, walking out of the shop.

He had no idea what to do now. Despite Gobber's assurance, he was certain that Bitwolf sabotaged his weapon, but the question was, why? Was this all about trying to steal Astrid's heart? If that was his intention, then Hiccup would have to make sure he disappoint him. He needed an alley to keep an eye out on him, and see if his suspicion was correct.

"Hey, Hiccup!" Fishlegs was walking by, and greeted him when he saw him leaving the shop.

"Fishlegs!" This was perfect. Of all of his friend, other than Astrid, he was the one he trusted the most. He was certain that he would hear him out.

"Rough day, I hear."

"You have no idea," Hiccup responded. "Listen, I need your help. I need you to keep a close eye on Bitwolf."

"Why?"

"I think he messed with my crossbow. I don't know why, but I need you to see if he does anything else strange."

"You think he ruined your weapon on purpose?" His eyes revealed shock and surprise.

"I—am fairly certain of it, but I don't want you to tell anyone else about this. There's no point raising suspicion, not just yet."

"I don't think he would do something like that; he's like a hero class level eight or something. His knowledge of dragons is like—plus 10!"

"I understand that, but please believe me; my weapon did not malfunction on its own." Hiccup pleaded. He really needed him to listen and to trust him.

Fishlegs was definitely thinking carefully about the request being made of him. He respected Hiccup, and probably even wanted to believe him, but he could not forget about the past. He could also not ignore the fact that Bitwolf seemed to be interested in Astrid. He did not want to get stuck in the middle of a war between two friends fighting over the same girl. "I'm sure it was just an accident. There's nothing to worry about."

Hiccup doubted that his other friends would spin the situation that way. That was why he could not trust the others with this task, and now apparently, Fishlegs was not willing to get involved with this. He could not mask the disappointment that he was feeling. "Okay, fine, but please don't tell anyone about this. I need to find out the truth for myself."

"I won't tell anyone," the chubby Viking smiled and headed off in the direction of the dining hall to find some food to eat.

* * *

Hiccup needed some time away from the village to think. Truthfully, he was not quite ready for the wave of criticism that he was going to get. He made his way into the dragon's field. A few dragons were flying overhead, just for the sake of spreading out their wings a little. Other dragons were on the ground playing or hunting for fish.

He found toothless relaxing alone in the center of the field. The Night Fury raised his head when he saw him coming towards him. Hiccup expected the normal warm welcome; what he got was something totally different. Toothless charged at him with his teeth bared. The terrifying sight of the angry Night Fury was enough to cause Hiccup to stumble backwards. Toothless stopped short of pouncing on him, but he angrily romped around before him, snorting and growling.

"Toothless, what's the matter with you? It's me!"

Toothless did not seem to care. His anger did not subdue; he continued to shake his head and growl. He took a small lunge forward which succeeded in pushing Hiccup back further. The dragon was doing everything in his power to get him to leave. "What's wrong with you? Why are you so angry?"

Toothless was becoming more aggressive towards him, the longer he stayed. He had no choice but to abide by the dragon's wish and promptly depart the field. "Ok, ok, I'm leaving."

Hiccup turned and walked quickly away from Toothless, who remained on edge until he was sure that he was not going to come back. As he headed back for the forest, his mind was reaching for an explanation for Toothless' strange behavior. This made absolutely no sense, at all.

As he reentered the woods, he stopped for a minute to think. There was no doubt that the dragon recognized him; Hiccup could see it in his eyes. For some odd reason, Toothless was angry at him.

He started to search for a large rock, so he could sit down and think, but as he did, something caught his eye. Leaning up against a tree was a spear. "How did that get here?"

He walked to the weapon and closely inspected it. He did not recognize it. Looking around the area, he noticed that the grass was trampled upon. Among the trampled grass was a metal medallion. Bending down and picking it up, he used his fingers to inspect it. It was an emblem medallion. Every tribe of Vikings had their own emblem branded onto their armor, or painted onto flags, but this emblem was not Berks. The medallion belonged to someone from Ivar's tribe.

Hiccup felt sick to his stomach; someone from Ivar's tribe knew about the dragons. If he had to guess, he would say, that whoever it was, had a run-in with Toothless and had done something to show aggression towards him. Toothless's reaction now made perfect sense.

He needed to tell this to his father about this new problem, but first, he had to convince Toothless that these Vikings were not his friends. With a deep breath, he made his way back into the field where it did not take long for Toothless to notice his return. The dragon once again stiffened his body and bore his teeth. He stomped on the ground with his two front teeth to try to intimidate him. Hiccup would not be scared off this time.

"Calm down, Toothless," Hiccup urged, as he raised his hands to try to ease closer to the dragon.

He, then, showed him the medallion. Toothless almost went ballistic on him. Either he recognized the emblem or the scent of the Vikings on it; Hiccup could not tell, which was the case. "Whoever these men were, they're not from our village. They did not represent me." He turned to the side and threw it as far as he could.

Toothless immediately became at-ease, retracting his teeth and looking at Hiccup with a curious look on his face. He had finally gotten through to the Night Fury. He slowly reached the palm of his right hand out towards Toothless. The dragon returned by bending downward and placing his nose into his hand.

"I don't know what's going on, Toothless; but I promise, that I'm going to find out, and set things right."


	13. Outcast Again

_Sorry for the long wait for an update. We were hit with a EF 3 tornado, and that has thrown everything out of whack. The twister came about a quarter of a mile away from the house, but it's undamaged. We did lose power for four days though, and since getting power back, it was hard to get back to a writing schedule. I hope to get back to a normal routine soon._

**Chapter 13: Outcast Again**

It seemed Odin and the gods had it out against him. Stoick could not comprehend what he could have done to upset the gods. He was putting everything on the line to protect the dragons, and everything that can go wrong, was. Hiccup's invention was nothing short of a disaster. Ivar was so angry, that he had not said a word to him or his son. This was yet another one of Hiccup's messes that he was going to have to find a way to clean up.

As the sun was beginning to set, the temperature quickly dropped. The time had come to put some wood into the fire pit in the center of the room and get a fire going. As he did, the front door opened and Gobber came hobbling into the hut. "Ah, good, I see that you're in as grumpy of a mood as ever."

"Aye, you can say that," Stoick replied with a sigh. "I just don't know what to do; Hiccup is going to be the death of me. This Shadow Lord hunt was a disaster of epic proportions."

"I heard. I also heard that Wolfbane got a good wallop in the face, hehehe!" Gobber chuckled just imagining the hilarious sight. "If you asked me, it could not have happened to a better Viking."

"Hiccup's clumsiness keeps getting in the way and threatens to expose everything. I just don't know what to do with the boy."

"How about supporting the lad? That seems like a good place to start."

"What?"

"The boy could really use some more moral support right about now. He seems to think that he's all alone."

"I've not asked much more from the boy than what he should already want to do. I'm doing my best in keeping those dragons alive; what else can I possibly do?"

"Perhaps you should stand up to Ivar when it comes to Hiccup. You do tend to excessively cower underneath him. You treat him more like a god than a Viking."

"Do you realize what you are saying?" Stoick replied, not believing what he was hearing from his friend's mouth. "Are you suggesting that I forsake the Viking code? That can start a war between our two tribes; that's the last thing we need."

"I'm not talking about starting a revolt, I'm talking about convincing him that these beasts can be good for more than just hunting. Let Hiccup show him what he and his Night Fury can really do."

"Ivar will kill that dragon the moment he lays his eyes on it."

"Now that's just it," Gobber pointed his prosthetic hand towards his friend. He currently had his hammer attachment connected to his arm. "Instead of protecting your son, you're willing to let Ivar have his way with the boy. Your a Viking Chief, perhaps you should start acting like one. I think Hiccup isright about telling Ivar the truth."

"Hmm," Stoick hummed, giving time for Gobber's words to sink in. Months ago, his eyes had been open to the truth that he really did not listen to his son. Hiccup had tried to tell him about Toothless and his feelings about killing dragons, but Stoick had been too stubborn to listen. He would like to believe that over the past few months, he had made some strides to listen to his son more. Perhaps Ivar had him so far on edge that he had reverted to his old self. Perahaps he should listen to his son and tell Ivar the truth.

"At least give it some thought."

* * *

On the way back to the village, his stomach had begun to demand some food. He had pretty much skipped all the meals today, and now his body was protesting. He decided to get some food, and perhaps get his mind off of his troubles for a little while when he encountered Tuffnut and Snotlout. At first, it looked like they were going to walk right by, but when they saw him, they began to laugh to themselves.

"What?" The old, familiar feeling of being the town's outcast began to reintroduce itself to Hiccup.

"Your attempt to blame your mishap on Bitwolf is a joke," Snotlout chuckled.

"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed. "Some friend you are. All Bitwolf has done was to cover for you to help your situation with Ivar, and you try to pass the blame onto him? Not good."

The two young Vikings walked off. Hiccup found himself frozen where he was. Fishlegs had opened his mouth, and now all of his friends knew. Even worse, they were coming to Bitwolf's defense. They believed him over Hiccup. This was the last thing he needed right now. It was a mistake to try to recruit Fishlegs, and now, things were getting even worse for him.

Hiccup sighed, deciding that he was going to have to address Fishlegs. Perhaps there was still a way he could save face with his friends. First thing was first, though; he needed to get some food. He continued his way towards the dinning hut. No one else seemed to take notice of him, until he saw Astrid walking towards him.

He could not tell if she knew, or not, based on the look on her face. That was typical of Astrid. Her face seldom showed emotion until it was too late to escape from her wrath. Whether that was intentional or a natural reaction, he still could not determine. He smiled as she approached, and was about to greet her when her expressionless face turned to an expression of furry.

He had not time to defend himself; she delivered a hard, painful jab on his arm. "What is your problem, Hiccup?"

"Ow!" Hiccup yelped. He rubbed his newly bruised arm as he took a step back in case she decided to jab him again. "I—I don't know what you mean. I…"

"After everything Bitwolf risked by helping you, you go and try to make him a scapegoat?"

"I—I'm not…"

"That is so very low, even for you!"

"Astrid, you don't understand, I found…" Hiccup was desperate to try to tell her about everything he had discovered, but trying to communicate with her when she was angry was near impossible.

"Do you even hear yourself?"

"Uh, actually, no I don't. I…"

"You're jealous of him, aren't you? You're jealous that everyone likes him more than you. You can't stand that he's even more popular than you?"

"What? Me? That's ridiculous!" Hiccup replied with a slight tinge of frustration in his voice. Perhaps he was a little jealous of her taking more interest in him, but he was certain that he was not jealous of his popularity among his friends. At least, he was fairly certain of it. "How—however, I do find it interesting that you're coming to his defense over mine."

He immediately began to regret the brief lapse of judgment as soon as those words had come out of his mouth. The scowl on her face was the most terrifying look he had ever seen. Her face looked like she had murder on her mind.

She pointed the head of her ax, threateningly, towards him. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Uh, nothing—nothing at all! Forget I said anything."

It appeared that she was not going to forget it. On the contrary, she was not going to let this past one bit. "Is there something wrong with me liking Bitwolf along with everyone else? Are you jealous because you think I _LIKE _him? I thought we've been through all that! I don't belong to you, and I don't belong to anyone; I am my own person!"

"I know! I know!"

"And don't you forget it!" She scowled, punching him on the arm once more.

"Ow!"

"That's for being a jerk."

"Oh no," Hiccup moaned, knowing what was coming next.

True to form, she shoved him with such force, he fell onto his rear-end. "And _THAT'S_ for everything else."

* * *

After eating alone, he tried to avoid everyone he could as he promptly made his way home. His mind was reeling in desperation. No one seemed to believe him, and all of his friends were angry at him. They were so fond of Bitwolf, they already saw him as one of the gang. At the same time, they were no longer seeing him as such. Now that he thought about it, he was beginning to feel like he was being replaced. Perhaps, deep down, inside, he was looking for a reason to dislike Bitwolf. Maybe he was imagining Bitwolf's intentions, and maybe his device was not sabotaged as he thought. One thing he knew for certain was that someone had found the dragons. That had to be his main concern for now.

He entered his hut, surprised to be greeted by a rush of warm air. His father was already home, and was in the process of stroking the fire in the fire pit. He looked up at him, and Hiccup had a sudden shiver swimming down his spine. A gut feeling told him that he was about to endure another round of scalding, and he really was not in the mood for it. "Uh, Dad, you're home early tonight?"

"Yes. I think we need to have a talk, son," Stoick stood up straight in his intimidating pose.

"Dad, I'm kinda' tired, right now, and…" Hiccup tried to side stepped towards the steps.

"I'm sorry, son."

"What?" Hiccup was expecting one of many things, but an apology had been furthest from his mind. He was at a loss for words; it wasn't often when Stoick the Vast apologized for anything.

"I haven't been listening to you as much as I should've. I've made a promise with you that I'd try harder to listen to your concerns, but some habits are hard to break."

"Oh, ok—uh…"

"I get the feeling that you need to talk so—here I am. Let's talk."

Hiccup was cautious but willing to take him at his word; after all, he was his father. His father has been trying harder to bond with him, but these peaceful moments always came to a quick end if anything angered him. What he needed to tell his father would definitely strike a nerve.

"Yes—well—uh…"

"Well, go on and spit it out!"

"Are you sure?" Hiccup asked. "I mean, will you promise me that you won't get angry."

"Come on, it can't be that bad. I promise that I won't get angry."

"Well, okay. Someone from Ivar's tribe has found the dragons. I found a medallion with their tribe's symbol over by the dragon."

"What?" Stoick erupted. His face quickly turned red and Hiccup would almost swear that smoke was rising from his face.

"Well, that was the shortest talk ever," Hiccup mumbled.

"You've been sneaking out to visit your dragon a few times too many. That has to be how they found them."

"Whatever ever happened to 'listening to me' and 'not getting angry'?"

Stoick wanted to retaliate with an accusation of his own, but he caught himself in time, before he could say something that he would really regret. Motioning with his hands, he pushed the imaginary border of his anger down, until he could feel it subside. "Okay, You're right. Let's look at this with calm heads. As far as I could tell, Ivar has given no indications that he knows about the dragons. I will have to make sure it remains that way."

"We have to tell him, sometime. We can't keep doing what we've been doing; it's just not working," Hiccup said, expecting his father to quickly put an end to that idea like he had all the other times.

To his surprise, it never happened. "Aye, I think this is gone on long enough. Just give me until tomorrow evening to find a way to do it without putting the dragons at risk."

"Really?" He could hardly believe his ears. He was almost convinced that he was hallucinating. This could not be the same man that he had known all of his young life.

"It's better that he finds out the truth on our terms than through whoever it was that found them. It's just strange that whoever it was, has yet to tell him."

"Very strange indeed," Hiccup replied, his thoughts, again, returned to Bitwolf and his father. What if it was one of them that had found the dragons?

"You look like you have something else to add," Stoick could see the blank look in his son's face.

He was ready to tell his father, but the thoughts of what he just went through with his friends stopped him. Could he afford to make things worse with his friends? Perhaps it was better that he kept his thoughts to himself. "Ah, no, there's nothing to add here. That's all there is."


	14. Secret Exposed

**Chapter 14: Secret Exposed**

Sitting up on the fire tower, the young Vikings had gathered around to roast fish over the fire pit. The only one not present was Hiccup, but no one seemed to even notice. They were all engrossed in the crazy tales of Bitwolf's adventures. All of them were amazed that someone so young could already have so many great stories to tell.

As the night grew late, the Vikings slowly dispersed one-by-one. The last two remaining Vikings were Bitwolf and Astrid. Bitwolf had waited patiently for the others to leave, and prayed that he could keep Astrid fascinated long enough to stay until everyone else had left. It appeared that he had successfully accomplished his goal. Now, it was time to lay the groundwork for his task at hand. "I've got to make a confession, but you can't tell anyone. Promise me that you won't kill me or tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

"You can trust me," Astrid assured him.

"Well, the truth is that my father is not as hardcore as Ivar. He doesn't share much in common with him at all, as a matter of fact. Ivar kills any dragon that he comes across, and hogs all the glory. He refuses to share any of the dragon kills with any of his Vikings, and many Vikings in our tribe are fed up with it."

"Okay," Astrid was waiting for the punch line. "I can imagine he can come off that way."

"The thing is, my father is opposed to killing dragons at all. He believes that the dragons are much more useful as workers or partners. As you can imagine, Ivar is not open to the idea."

"Really?" Astrid was not sure what to make of this. If he was telling the truth, he and his father could be close alleys. Maybe his father could help Hiccup stand up to Ivar.

"My father wants to stop Ivar from killing the Shadow Lord, but that means we need to find the dragon first. I have another confession; my father and I know about Hiccup and the dragons."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Astrid was caught off guard by that last confession. If this was a test to try to expose the truth from her, then she had nearly fallen for it. She had been expecting a revelation of this magnitude.

"It's okay, Astrid, It's the truth. We know about Berk's relationship with the dragons. My father has even found the field where you're hiding the dragons. He hasn't told Ivar any of this. He needs Hiccup's help in protecting the Shadow Lord. Hiccup's ability with the dragons is unlike anything we thought possible."

The look in his face told her that he was telling the truth; he probably did know where the dragons were. It was clear that he shared his father's passion to find the Shadow Lord dragon before Ivar. This was exactly what Hiccup needed; a new alley with some authority behind him. With Wolfbane's help, they can keep Ivar from killing any more dragons.

"I believe you," Astrid said before she even realized those words had come out of her mouth. "I don't know where Hiccup is right now, but have you ever flown on dragons?"

"No. we've never been able to get that friendly them."

"Perhaps we should get you better acquainted with our dragons before we take this up with Hiccup. Hiccup has this crazy notion that you sabotaged his weapon. We need to get him to trust you first."

"How about you; do you trust me?" Bitwolf asked.

"Yes, I trust you," Astrid replied, almost without hesitation, as her face became flushed.

* * *

At the crack of dawn, Hiccup was up and out to visit with Toothless and the dragons. If his father kept his promise, by the end of the night, all of these dragons would be back at the village. For the first time in a long time, he felt optimistic. That was why he wanted to start his day off visiting Toothless. He wanted to assure him that this madness was coming to an end.

There was still a chill in the air as the sun started to melt the morning frost away. The cold did not bother Hiccup much; he was too excited to be bothered by it. He just enjoyed the silence and the peace from his hectic life as he scratched Toothless' neck. However, his moment of peace came to a startling end when he heard voices approaching.

"Uh, oh no! Oh boy!" Panic began to go on overload. He had become so flustered, that he could not concentrate on figuring out what he should do. He could not even get his mouth to form proper words. Several different instincts tried to take control of his body, and he nearly tripped over his own feet.

It quickly became obvious that his incapability to function made it impossible for him to hide. He could hear the voices approaching, and he no longer had any time to do anything about it. The dragons have been exposed, and he had a gust feeling that he was about to meet the Viking or Vikings, who had discovered them in the first place.

As an exploring single-headed Zippleback wondered away, he saw the two Vikings, whom he had least expected to see approaching: Astrid and Bitwolf. "Wha—? Astrid? What are you doing? Why is _'HE'_ here?"

"Hiccup? Good, you're here; we've got to talk."

"Why did you bring him here?" Hiccup could not believe that Astrid would jeopardize everything by bringing Bitwolf here. Did he have her so mesmerized that she would do anything for him?

"Hiccup, he wants to help you. Bitwolf and his father don't believe in killing dragon. They want your help in trying to keep the Shadow Lord alive."

"Astrid, if you knew what he accused me off the other night…"

"I'm sorry for what I said to you, Hiccup. I suppose I lashed out at you under frustration, and I'm sorry about that. I guess I was a little disillusioned. My father and I knew about your reputation even before arriving at your village. I think that maybe you weren't quite what I was expecting."

"You knew about me all this time?"

"Of course," Bitwolf replied. "We even knew about these dragons. My father wanted to find them, so he knew where to keep Ivar from going to find them."

Hiccup was a little suspicious, but what he was saying did make perfect sense. It answered the question about who was here and why Ivar had not yet known about the dragons. The more he thought about it, the more he felt guilty. He allowed his jealousy to blind him to the truth. Yes, he was still jealous that Astrid still seemed infatuated with him, but that did not mean that Bitwolf was out to hurt his dragons. He could not believe that he allowed his jealousy to, seriously, jeopardize an opportunity to save the dragons. "So, you and your father want to protect the Shadow Lord, even after he nearly devoured us all?"

"The dragon may be violent, but that doesn't mean that he should be killed."

"And how do you explain the collection of dragon claws around your neck?" Hiccup asked.

"They're fake. My father had to deceive Ivar, to get him off my back just like he's now on yours."

That answer was satisfactory. If this all was a lie, it was the most seamless and flawless lie that he had ever heard. There were no loose ends, and it all answered some pivotal questions that Hiccup and his father had. "So what's the plan?"

"My father wants to show Ivar that dragons are good other for trophies. They can also be good for helping to do some tedious tasks."

Hiccup was not crazy about that idea. It sounded like they wanted to enslave the dragons rather than treat them like friends. At least, it was a step in the right direction, though. Perhaps he could show Bitwolf that dragons can be even more than just workers. "Dragons can be so much more than that. Have you ever ridden on a dragon?"

"No; until we came here, we didn't think that that was even possible."

Hiccup smirked. "I think it's time for your first lesson."

* * *

The three young Vikings soared high over the Island, as the Sun was fully above the horizon. They had found a Monstrous Nightmare to train Bitwolf on. He proved to be a quick learner, and it wasn't long before they were in the sky. They were flying over the ocean, and he was doing an excellent job navigating his dragon.

"You're getting it," Hiccup said with a nod towards Bitwolf.

"This is incredible! I've never experienced anything like this!"

That reaction was very similar to Astrid's when Hiccup first showed her what it was like to fly on the back of a dragon. Almost all the Vikings that Hiccup had taught had the same reaction. The thrill of flying was life changing, and Hiccup felt that this would do the same for Bitwolf and his father. "So there really isn't a trick to befriending a dragon. Just show them your peaceful intentions by disposing your weapons. Speak softly to them, and approach them in a non-threatening way. Treat them with respect, and any docile dragon will reciprocate."

"You know, up here in the sky, it feels like anything is possible, even making peace with a dragon like the Shadow Lord."

Hiccup smiled, now confident that Bitwolf was a changed Viking. He no longer had to fear Ivar with Bitwolf and his father behind him. Today was turning out to be an even greater day than he had hoped.

"Hey, who's up for a race?" Astrid asked, with a giant grin on her face.

"A race? I don't know if…"

"Hiya!" Before Hiccup had a chance to hear his concerns, Astrid navigated her Deadly Nadder to make a sharp turn to the right, while making a rapid decent towards the shoreline.

"Hey!" Hiccup protested! He and Bitwolf peeled off to the right to race to catch up.

The two young Vikings were head-to-head as they flew over the coastline of the Island. Bitwolf glanced over at Hiccup with a grin on his face. "Thank you for teaching me all of this. You have no idea what this means."

Hiccup smiled and then returned his focus back on the race. Bitwolf did not seem to really be into the race, as he continued to converse with him. "You know, Astrid is a real special Viking; she's abrasive, strong, and very cute."

"Yeah," He replied suspiciously. He was quickly getting agitated with him praising Astrid in such away. Does he even know how much he liked her?

"Did you really think that she would be interested in someone as pathetic as you when she has someone like me around?"

This was worse than he had anticipated. He had gone from a dependable ally to a complete heel. What was the deal with this sudden change in characteristics? "What? I thought…"

"Face it, she is totally into me, and she even told me so when we kissed last night."

For the first time that he could ever remember, hate welled up inside of him. He could not believe that he had bought into this nice guy act. He had a right to be jealous, because this young Viking _WAS_ intentionally moving in on him. He was putting a wedge between Astrid and himself. If he didn't know any better, he was sure that he was getting his friends to turn on him, as well.

A queasy feeling swept over him; it was a feeling of defeat and shame. Worse yet, he had just exposed the presence of the dragons to him. Was any of the story, that Bitwolf told him, true? Everything, that he and his father were trying to do, may have just been obliterated. The dragons could all be in grave danger.

How could he have let this happened? How could he have been so careless and let his guard down? With a gentle tug on the reins, he told Toothless to turn around. He was going to go back to the field to drop Toothless off and then go home. His father had to know about this, and he knew that hell was about to rain down on him like never before.


	15. Ivar's Rage

**Chapter 15: Ivar s Rage**

Hiccup could not find his father anywhere, so for the lack of any other ideas on what to do next, he decided to go home. He figured it was better to be out of sight until he had a chance to talk to his father. He could see this all playing out in a thousand different ways; not one of them ended well for him.

He was doing laps around the fire pit, consumed in his thoughts and despair. The idea of running away had crossed his mind several times. He could run away with Toothless, and then his dragon would be safe from Ivar's wrath. That idea concerned him, however. Would he be able to survive out on his own, alone, with only Toothless by his side?

A decision had to be made quickly, so he had to prioritize what was important. The most important thing was to protect Toothless. He had no clue what he would do if Toothless was killed. Perhaps running away was the only option left to him, but what about Astrid? Could he just leave her like that?

His thoughts were interrupted when the door was thrown open so violently, that Hiccup jumped, feeling as if his heart was about jump out of his throat. Storming inside was Astrid, who's fury radiated from her very presence. Her face was red, and her teeth clenched. "There you are!"

"Astrid!" This was the first encounter he feared; it was probably the one he feared the most.

"What were you thinking? How could you just abandon us like that? Bitwolf is completely new to flying; you had no right to disappear like that."

"Astrid, Bitwolf is no good. He's…"

"Will you cut it out, already!" She screamed. She stormed towards him with such force, that Hiccup was afraid for his life. She shoved him harder than she had ever done before. "Are you really that petty and jealous?"

"Listen to me!" Hiccup said out of frustration. "He's not who you think he is. He's playing you; he's playing everyone! He told me that you kissed him!"

"You're pathetic, you know that?" Astrid's tone took a more somber tone. If he didn't know better, he would of thought that she was emotionally hurt by what he had just said. "You have to make up lies, because you can't get over your jealousy."

"Astrid, I…"

Astrid raised a fist to punch his lights out, causing Hiccup to flinch. She stopped herself, but the intensity of her fist was enough to tell Hiccup that she really wanted to cause him bodily harm. "It's over between us," She said barely above a whisper.

"But…"

Astrid left more solemnly than the way she came in. Not bothering to close the door behind her, the moment she stepped outside, she ran as fast and far away from the hut as humanly possible. Hiccup stood motionlessly where he was; shock had completely overwhelmed all of his senses.

* * *

Wolfbane could not have been more proud of his son. He had done his job perfectly, and discovered Hiccup's secret in befriending the dragons. Now, the rest was up to him. After a nice long discussion with Ivar about how to deal with Stoick and his son after the failed expedition, he slyly planted the idea that they were intentionally hindering his quest. He did not know about Berk's dragons, yet; that would come after his quest, here, was complete. He got permission to find evidence against Stoick. The best evidence was to be able to locate the Shadow Lord.

Wolfbane brought with him one of his most trusted allies among the Vikings from his village. Not all the Vikings that came to Berk were in league with him, but those, that were not, would perish along with all the Vikings of Berk. The fool, Ivar, had no idea what was about to befall him. Bitwolf did a great job distracting Hiccup, and making him think that he was only interested in winning her heart. Having the boy worry about that, had kept him distracted from the real plot at hand.

Searching the Island, he had a pretty good idea where the dragon may be hiding. If he was a giant predator, like the Shadow Lord, he would hide as far away from the village as possible. Based on the reaction that Berk had to the news about the existence of the dragon, he had to assume that the dragon had only just arrived recently. The best place to start looking for it, would be the part of the shoreline that was closest to Dragon Island. With the Green Death defeated, it would only make sense that the Shadow Lord would have visited there first, before coming to find food here. If the dragon was as intelligent as he believed, he would not put it past it, to go to Dragon Island to, first, confirm the death of the massive dragon queen.

He could hear the roar of the ocean through the trees, and he knew that he was getting close. He looked back as his friend and raised a finger to his lips. Getting the message, he followed close behind him, quietly making their way towards the shore. The sunlight began to crack through the trees, as they were now reaching the end of the forest. He waved his hand to tell his friend to hold back.

It would have been foolish just to leave the cover of the forest without scouting the shore line first. If his plan was to work, he could not allow himself to lose the element of surprise; it was the only thing that would keep him alive long enough to plead his case to the dragon. His hope was that the dragon was intelligent enough that an alliance together would benefit them both.

He hid behind the last tree, and peered around it. There was only a small patch of sand before the water washed ashore. Except for a few giant rocks and a log, there was nothing on the beach. He looked further to his right to find a giant boulder with the ground dug out slightly to make a small, partial cave. Underneath that bolder, he saw what could only be the Shadow Lord Dragon. The dragon had an uncanny resemblance to the Night Fury, but this one was twice the size, and much more vile looking. No one would mistake this dragon for a playful and innocent creature.

Wolfbane carefully backed away and returned to his friend. "He's there. We've found the beast."

"Now what?"

"Go back and tell Ivar everything I've told you. The rest will play out as it should. I will prepare for their arrival. You know who should not be on that hunting party, and what their duty will be once the hunting party has set sail."

"I got it," he replied with a grin. He quickly started his journey back to the village, going twice as fast as they had gone to get to the shore.

As soon as he was away, Wolfbane cautiously stepped out onto the beach. The moment he did, the Shadow Lord took instant notice of him. The dragon leaped from his dwellings, to confront this intruder. Stopping just short of the Viking, he bore his teeth and spread out his wings to intimidate the intruder.

"I know what you are, beast, and I know what you want." Wolfbane slowly, and cautiously took his ax from his belt and dropped it to the ground, along with his shield. He removed his helmet, and anything that the dragon might find provocative.

The black dragon's reaction did not change. It seemed perfectly content on making the Viking his next meal, whether he had a weapon in his hand or not. The dragon's body intensified, as he was ready to go for the kill.

"I've got a feeling that you've seen a Night Fury recently, along with a boy on his back. Are you understanding me, dragon? Are you as intelligent as I was made to believe?"

The dragon made no suggestion that he understood or even cared about what he was saying. Yet, the dragon had yet to make a move towards him. Just maybe, the dragon was hearing him, and waiting for him to get to the point.

"I bet that you were confused to see a Viking and a dragon working together. I dare say, that was something you've never seen before. I can get you, both the Night Fury and the boy. I can get you an entire village of Vikings for you to feed upon. Spare my life, and partner with me, and you will have more food than you can ever imagine. Together, we can take down the Night Fury, and rule the Islands!"

The Shadow Lord's facial expression remained hostile, but Wolfbane could swear that he saw a sparkle in the dragon's eyes. Something inside of him told him, that the dragon had understood everything he had said. Whether it was accepting the offer or not, Wolflbane had no idea. There was only one way he could find out.

He cautiously approached the dragon with his hands raised. This was the moment of truth. Either he was about to make himself lunch for the dragon, or the dragon would accept his offer.

* * *

Stoick had never been angrier in his life. No one dared to get in his way if they valued their well being. Everyone stepped aside as he stormed through the village like a raging fire. He raced home, and hoped that Hiccup was there; if he knew his son, that was where he would be.

When he reached the front door of his hut, he virtually kicked his door open and stepped inside. Hiccup was standing there with eyes wide open. On the ground in front of him was a satchel with its contents all over the floor. "What have you done, Hiccup?"

"Uh, done? I don't know what…"

"This is no time for games!" He roared, unable to control the anger that had built up on the way home. "You told Wolfbane's son about the dragons? What were you thinking?"

"I—I didn't tell him about the dragons! I…"

"Enough!" Stoick screamed. "Ivar knows everything. He knows about the dragons, and your Night Fury. He knows that we've been lying to him since the moment he arrived."

Hiccup was afraid of much; Bitwolf could not be trusted. That rotten young Viking had lied through his teeth to Astrid to get her to show him the dragons. What was peculiar was that Bitwolf really seemed interested in learning how to fly on the back of dragons. If that was what he truthfully wanted, why did he reveal the dragons to Ivar? What game was the boy playing? "He does?"

"He's on his way here now, and I can tell you that he's not happy. We'll be lucky not to be banished from Berk for the rest of our lives!"

"Banished? He wouldn't…"

"He just might!" Stoick snarled. "What were you thinking, Hiccup? This was the worst possible way for him to find out, and now we're powerless to save Toothless and the other dragons!"

"Stoick!" Ivar shouted from off in a short distance. Their time was up. Ivar was here, and he was going to punish them, severely, for their deceit. It was only a matter of seconds before he stepped inside their home with a look of fury and rage on his face. "You! You! Both of you have committed the highest degree of treachery!"

"Ivar, you don't understand the situation."

"I know enough to know that I've been made to look like a fool. You're village has betrayed the Viking code by befriending those…beasts!"

"Dragons are harmless," Hiccup replied. "There is no need to kill them."

"Your words are as treacherous as your actions! Who's not to say that you've been trying to keep the Shadow Lord hidden from me?"

"It's wrong to hunt these creatures for sport! They are highly intelligent, and…" Stoick replied, hoping to pull the focus of Ivar's wrath completely on him, and not on his son. If he could spare his son the punishment that was about to be handed down, then he could breathe a little easier.

"You're words are that of a coward, and an unworthy Viking chief. You have turned your tribe into a village of weak-minded, fools. You are the worst example to your son. You have done your son a grave injustice by teaching him these blasphemous practices."

"I've only done what I know is right for the people of my tribe, and my son. I make no apologies for anything that I've done."

Ivar shook his head in disgust. The pure sight of Stoick was sickening to his stomach. In his eyes, he was worse than those dogs in the Roman Empire. "You leave me no choice but to take away your authority. You, Stoick the Vast, are no longer chief of Berk. Upon Wolfbane's suggestion, I will leave one of my men to remain here, and under my authority, rule as the new Viking chief."

"What!" Hiccup could not believe that Ivar would dare make a move of this magnitude. His father had been right about Ivar, and what he was capable of. It was only now sinking in, that his father's fears were justified. "You can't do that!"

"I've just done it, boy!" Ivar snapped. "You have tried to keep the Shadow Lord from me, but for all your vein efforts, I've just discovered the dragon's whereabouts. I am taking a team, immediately, to the far end of the Island to kill the dragon. You are coming with me, so you can witness the death first hand," Ivar said towards Stoick.

Ivar turned his focus towards Hiccup. "As for you; your father, and the people of this village have failed to train you properly. Therefore, after I have my trophy, you will be coming back with me to my tribe, and I will train you in the art of dragon killing myself. From this point forward, you will be a part of my tribe, and you will never again set foot on this Island."

"You can't take my son from me!" Stoick responded angrily.

"Later, you will have time to say good-bye to your son. For all intents and purposes, you may never see him again. Until we are ready to leave, the boy is to be incarcerated inside of my hut, with armed guards at the door. I'll not have the boy trying to stop me from getting my kill."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Hiccup protested.

With a snap of Ivar's fingers, Bonetoss and Snakewisp entered the hut. Both Vikings grabbed an arm and began to pull Hiccup out of the hut. "Dad!"

"Hiccup!" Stoick called out, reaching out a hand towards him.

Hiccup struggled to break free from their grasps, but they were not going to let him go. They pulled him out of the hut, and threw him him foward so they could push him towards his final destination.

Outside, all the Vikings of Berk had gathered around the hut, having heard of the terrible news. They could only watched as the two Vikings escorted Hiccup towards his imprisonment.

Having seen the crowds gathered, Astrid pushed through the adult Vikings to see what was going on at Hiccup's house. When she finally got through, her mouth dropped open. Hiccup was being treated like a prisoner and being taken somewhere away from everyone. "What's going on?"

Spitelout was standing there with a disgruntled look on his face. "Ivar discovered the dragons. My brother and nephew are being punished. It sounds like Stoick is being stripped of his leadership and Hiccup is going to be taken away from Berk. This is a great injustice."

"What!" Astrid heart pounded as she watched Hiccup being taken away. Only moments ago, she had been so angry with him for everything he had done, but now, she dreaded the fact that she would never again see Hiccup. Her heart was hurting more than she could bare. How could this have happened? How did Ivar find out? "How did Ivar find out?"

Spitelout shook his head. "Rumors have it that Wolfbane was the one who discovered the dragons and told Ivar. How he found out, no one knows."

"Wolfbane?" No, it couldn't be true! Bitwolf said that his father wanted to save the dragons from Ivar. Why would he lie to her like this? Why would he and his father tell Ivar everything? "Bitwolf!" she growled under her breath. He had betrayed her and her friends.

The sudden realization dawned on her: she was the one who exposed the dragons. This was all her fault. Somehow, Bitwolf had gotten her to let her guard down, and she allowed him to woo her. Everything Hiccup was trying to tell her was the truth. Somehow, he knew about Bitwolf's true character, and when he tried to warn her, she accused him of being jealous. She had treated him horribly, and ever worse, broke his heart. "What have I done?"


	16. Berk Under Seige

**Chapter 16: Berk Under Siege**

Hiccup was stuck in this hut, with no way to escape. The windows were too small for him to climb out of, and the door was closely guarded by at least two Vikings. After thoroughly searching the hut, he determined that there was no way out of this hut. All he could do is sit and dread about being taken away from Berk and even more importantly, Toothless. He thought about calling out for help through one of the windows. Toothless would hear and help him escape, but that would be too dangerous for the Night Fury. Ivar's Vikings would probably kill him the moment he stepped foot into the village.

He let out a sigh as he sat on the floor directly in front of the door. He could not help but feel like he let everyone down. Astrid hated him, his friends thought he was crazy, and his father—who knows what he was thinking, right now. Perhaps it would be better for everyone if he was gone.

While sitting on the floor, soaking in depression, he could not help but overhear the two Vikings outside the door. Were they even aware that he could hear them? With nothing better to do, he just sat there and listened to what they were saying.

"So this is it!" Bonetoss said. "Wolfbane is making his move!"

"It looks that way. We're finally going to get out from underneath Ivar's rule. One thing is for sure; I won't miss him when he's dead."

"Dead?" Hiccup mumbled to himself. Was this what all of this insanity was about?

"Quite, you idiot!" Bonetoss scowled. "The boy might be able to hear you."

"Who cares, the kid is locked up inside with nowhere to go. Soon, Ivar and Stoick the Vast will be gone, and Wolfbane will have his dragon. Things can't only get better for us."

Hiccup jumped to his feet. "That's what this is about?" He said under his breath. Wolfbane wanted a dragon of his own, and the dragon he wanted was the Shadow Lord. Worse yet, even, was that together, they were going to kill the whole hunting party, including his father. For Bitwolf, this had nothing to do with stealing Astrid away from him; he was helping his father get the information he needed to force the Shadow Lord to do his bidding. The dragon alone, was evil, but if the dragon was willing to partner with Wolfbane, then they would indeed be an unstoppable duo.

He could not allow this to happen! Hiccup was determined to save his father and stop Wolfbane and the Shadow Lord. He jumped to his feet and pounded on the door. "Let me out of here!"

"Silence, brat!" Bonetoss snapped, pounding on the door so hard, that it caused Hiccup to stagger backwards.

Hiccup began to research the hut for something he could use to break himself out. "I've got to warn the others! Come on, there's got to be something in here I can use!"

* * *

It did not take the Vikings long to get two ships ready to sail for the dragon hunt. A vast array of weapons, from the blacksmith shop, were loaded onto the ships and now the Vikings were filing on board.

Stoick had his hammer in his hand, but he had no intentions of using it, unless the dragon came after him. He was not going to help Ivar hunt this beast. He may no longer be Viking chief, but he was not going to sulk in the shame that Ivar had bestowed upon him.

As he found his spot on one of the ships, he could not help but think of Hiccup. How could he had let this happen. Hiccup had been right all along, and none of this would be happening if he had not acted so cowardly towards Ivar. Yes, rebelling against a legendary Viking chief was considered a capital offense according to the Viking code, but the problem was, that the Viking code was outdated. All of it should have changed when they accepted dragons among them. A new Viking code should have been created, and if only he had known that before now, he would not be in this predicament. He had lost his wife, and now the last of his family was going to be taken away, unless he could find a way to change Ivar's mind.

Ivar was the last to get onboard. "Set sail for the far side of the Island." He commanded.

Upon that command, the two ships left the dock and took to the sea. Ivar settled down next to Stoick, who wanted to keep a close eye on him. He gave the former Viking chief a glowering look before looking away.

* * *

Most of the remaining Vikings were on top of the cliff, looking out at the departing boats. Bitwolf was there along with the other Vikings. He was the one Viking Astrid wanted to see. She did not care who else was around; She had a bone to pick with the young Viking, and she was more than willing to do it in front of everyone.

Bitwolf was taken by surprised when Astrid grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from the cliff's edge. "You lied to me. Everything you told me was a lie!"

"I can explain everything," Bitwolf replied, doing his best to keep her from getting angrier than she already was.

"What makes you think that I even care what you have to say anymore? What your people are doing to Hiccup and his father is unforgivable."

"I didn't have a choice? Ivar…"

Astrid did not give him time to make his case. She shoved Bitwolf violently. "That was for all the lies."

"Wait!"

He had no time to defend himself, she threw a powerful punch straight into his face, knocking him out cold, and leaving a black eye in the wake. "_THAT'S_ for everything else!"

A hand grabbed her arm from behind and pulled her away. "That's enough of that, little girl!" One of the adult Vikings pulled her away from Bitwolf. He pulled her over to another Viking, whom she did not recognize, while he addressed all the present Vikings. "Listen up everyone, I am Kalem the Aggressor, and by the order of Ivar the Fearsome, I am now the Viking chief of Berk. As of right now, I want every Viking from this village to be confined indoors until further notice."

"What?" Astrid's objection was the loudest among all the other Vikings who did the same.

Spitelout was quick to butt heads with the new Viking chief. "You can't seriously punish the entire village."

"Can't I?" A large group of Vikings began to surround Berk's Vikings with weapons in hand and pointed towards them. Kalem displayed a smirk of confidence. "We have the blacksmith shop under guard, so you have no weapons to challenge us with. Now, if I were you, I would get your people inside before I'm forced to do something rash."

Spitelout snarled towards Kalem. He was ready to tear the Viking apart limb from limb, but he would only be putting the others in jeopardy. "Let's go, everyone."

* * *

"I can't believe he lied to us like that," Snotlout said angrily. "I thought he was the coolest Viking. I'm so mad, right now."

The sentiment was shared among Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs. The four of them had skipped the send off to discuss the situation with Hiccup at Snotlout's home. Astrid was due to come back shortly, after she finished something she wanted to do first.

"He didn't fool me one bit," Tuffnut said proudly.

"Did too?" his twin sister rebutted.

"Did not!"

"Uh, guys, I think we have a problem!" Fishlegs replied from in front of the window.

The three Vikings joined Fishlegs out the window to look outside. There were Vikings with weapons escorted their friends and families throughout the village. It looked like all the Vikings of Berk were being forced inside their homes. "What's going on out there?" Tuffnut asked, not quite sure what to make out of what they were witnessing.

"Our Vikigns are being escorted! They're being treated like prisoners, just like Hiccup!"

"Oooh, and there's Astrid!" Fishlegs pointed her out with his right index finger.

"They got her, too!" Ruffnut said, with a tinge of fear in her voice. They were all thinking the same thing. They all knew that they were going to be next.

"Quickly, everyone out the back and into the forest!"

They ran to the back door where Snotlout opened the door for his friends. They had a straight path for woods. They raced out the door and ran into the woods. Dodging around trees, they pushed their way deep into the woods until they felt they could afford the time to take a breather. However, they all knew that they could not stay there for very long.

"Ok, so, now what?" Tuffnut asked.

It took Snotlout a minute longer to catch his breath, before he could respond. "We have to free Hiccup, and I think I know how. Who's with me?"

"Yeah!" The young Vikings said with a grin.

* * *

Bonetoss and Snakewisp obediently continued to stand guard over Hiccup. Under no circumstances, were they allowed to allow the boy out of the hut, unless Kalem was present to help escort the boy around. The two Vikings were proud to be chosen for this task, so they could prove themselves worthy to Wolfbane. As strong as they were, they had come to realize that they weren't the brightest Vikings. They were eager to prove that they could keep Hiccup from escaping; perhaps they would finally get some recognition when Wolfbane did return.

"Hey guys, what's happening?" Tuffnut said, as he and Tuffnut walked up to the two Viking guards.

"Hey, get back to your home. You shouldn't be out here!" Bonetoss ordered angrily. He had no idea how his friends had overlooked these two young Vikings.

"We're just going for a stroll. Don't mind us!" Ruffnut smiled innocently.

"You heard him, go home!" Snakewhisp responded.

"You wanna make us?" Tuffnut said, stepping up to Snakewhisp in a challenging manner. The moment he was close enough, he slapped the iron helmet off of his head.

"Hey!"

The twins laughed as they ran towards the heart of the village. Snakewhisp lost all sense of reason and before Bonetoss could stop him, he was chasing after the two young Vikings. "Get back here, you imbecile!" Snakewhisp did not comply; he continued to chase after the two annoying young Vikings. "It looks like I'm the smart one between us."

"Excuse me," Fishlegs came walking from around the hut. "It's past my mid-day snack. I'm just going to head on over to the dining hall for some food."

"You can stand to miss a meal or two, boy. Get back to your hut, or I will…"

Fishlegs continued on towards the dining hall, as if he wasn't even there. Angrily, Bonetoss stepped towards the boy, determined not to go too far from his post. He was not going to allow himself to be distracted from his task, like his friend. When he was about to grab the boy's shoulder, he made a sudden dash forward. "Come back here!" Bonetoss screamed as he chased after the boy, determined that he could catch the boy without straying too far away. There was no way this chubby young Viking could outrun him.

Snotlout took advantage of the distraction and stealthily walked up to the front door and pushed it open. Standing on his feet, Hiccup was clearly surprised to see Snotlout at the front door instead of one of the two Vikings who were supposed to be guarding him. Snotlout singled with his hands to quickly follow him.

He did not have to be told twice. Hiccup followed Snotlout as the two of them ran as fast as they legs could take them into the woods. They ran a good distance into the forest before they dared to stop to discuss the situation.

"Thanks Snotlout," Hiccup replied.

"What's going on? Ivar's men are imprisoning all the Vikings in Berk."

"It's not Ivar, it's Wolfbane," Hiccup explained. "He's going to kill Ivar and my father, unless we stop him."

"But how?"

"Wolfbane is going to use the Shadow Lord. He's going to form an unholy alliance with the dragon. If that happens, we're all as good as dead."

"What should we do about our friends? They even got Astrid confined somewhere in the village!"

"Hmm," Hiccup rubbed his chin as he contemplated what could be done. Should he focus on saving Astrid and the village, or saving Ivar and his Father? If he tried to rescue the village first, he may be too late to stop Wolfbane, so logically, it would be better to do that first. However, if Wolfbane has successfully partnered with the Shadow Lord, he was going to need all the help he could get. "I'm going after Wolfbane. I need you to save our friends."

"By myself? Are you out of your mind?" Snotlout replied.

"I have an idea on where you can get some help."


	17. Freedom

**Chapter 17: Freedom**

All of Berk's Vikings were confined to their homes. The only Vikings that were outside were the ones that were under Kalem's command, and they all had a weapon in hand to enforce the confinement. The atmosphere of the village had greatly diminished in such a short time. To most of the Vikings, Berk had a distinct atmosphere of that of a prison island. Yet, at the same time, there was a tension in the air. War was on the horizon. This confinement would not last very long before something would ignite a war between the two fractions. No one could have foreseen such a drastic turn of events in such a short time.

For the captors, tension was also in the air. With the escape of Hiccup, they all had a fair expectation that he would try to do something. They had lookouts posted at the fire pit towers to keep an eye out in the sky. If the stories were true, and the boy did have a dragon, he would most likely come swooping down from the sky. With these eyes in the sky, there was no way the boy could take them by surprise. With each Viking heavily armed, they were ready for whatever may come.

Kalem remained furious with the two morons who allowed the boy to escape. For their sakes, the boy had better try to rescue the village instead of stopping Wolfbane; otherwise, their lives would soon come to an end. Kalem was not about to take the fall for these two half-witted Vikings.

Kalem was checking up with his men near the huts at the edge of the village. He wanted to make sure that Berk's Vikings were not planning some kind of revolt. That was something he would not stand for. He was on his way to another hut when he saw a young Viking entering the village. He knew right away that this was not Hiccup; Hiccup was a scrawny, brown haired, fish bone. This young Viking was strong, confident, and everything Hiccup was not. "Halt! What are you doing out here?"

"Hey, I'm just in the mood to stretch my legs out a little, you know?" Snotlout replied. "Staying indoors: totally overrated! I want to be out where the action is."

"Now is not the time for that, boy. I'm taking you back home, and this time, stay inside."

"Well, okay, but can my friends come, as well?"

"What fr—" When Snotlout stepped aside, his jaw dropped open. He was now staring into the eyes of an entire heard of dragons. There were many different species present, and there were, easily, over two hundred dragons staring him down. A few dragons he could have manage on his own, but two hundred plus dragons, was more than any one Viking could handle. Despite the odds, however, he was not going to lose his Viking demeanor. As a Viking, he was ready to die in battle; that was just the Viking way. He cautiously reached for his sword from his belt.

"Charge!" Snotlout shouted, raising his fist in the air.

The dragons began to stampede into the village, right towards Kalem. He had no time to draw his weapon. He turned and ran for his life as all the dragons stormed into the village.

Spitelout, hearing a loud commotion outside, came storming out of his house to see what was going on. Chaos was running wild through the village. All the dragons were stampeding back into the village and chasing all of Kalem's Vikings.

The Viking, guarding his house, had been too stunned by these events to notice him outside of his house. It appeared that he was torn between doing his guard duty or to help his friends fight the dragons. Spitelout took advantage of the distraction to help take away his choice. He charged at him at full force. The Viking guard had managed to turn around to face him, but Spitelout was already on top of him. Spitelout's fist came crashing across his face, followed by a few more powerful hits, and Kalem's Viking was down for the count.

Taking the Viking's weapon, Spitelout was ready to join the fray. Raising the ax above his head, he let out a fearsome war cry that was loud enough, that any of Berk's Vikings nearby would hear and comply. Slowly, more and more of Berk's Vikings would see what was going on and join in with the dragons to take back the village.

As he entered the melee, the other Vikings were slowly coming out of their homes. When they saw what was going on, they began to fight with and overtake their captors. When their captors were down, they stole the weapons and jumped into the fray.

The fight quickly became chaotic with Vikings fighting with Vikings and Vikings fighting dragons. Spitelout's biggest concern was that the dragons might unknowingly attack a friendly Viking; but it soon became apparent that the dragons were intelligent enough to know which Vikings did not belong to Berk.

Astrid looked out the window of her home to see the stampeding dragons streaming through the village. There could be only one explanation for what was happening. "Hiccup," she said softly out loud to herself.

She quickly ran for the chest at the opposite end of the room. Reaching in, she pulled out her dragon riding rope and made her way outside. When she ran out the door, she found Bitwolf directly in her path.

He was like an animal blinded by light, and she hoped he continued to stay that way. He was so terrified about what was coming his way, he legs just would not move. "Oh no," He mumbled.

She got her wish, and he was unable to move out of her way. With a grin on her face, and a great satisfaction in her spirit, she raised up her fist and enjoyed the gratification of knocking him out cold a second time.

With him no longer in her way, she ran straight through the stream of stampeding dragons. She entered the heard, barely avoiding being trampled upon. Running amidst the dragons, she looked for the first Deadly Nadder she could find. She found one running next to her, on the other side of a Monstrous Nightmare that was directly next to her. Following closely behind the Monstrous Nightmare was a double-headed Zippleback which was quickly gaining ground. Between those two dragons were the only way over towards the Deadly Nader, but if she did not plan this carefully, she could end up being trampled to death.

She slowed down just enough to fall behind the Monstrous Nightmare. With a swift, agile move, she leaped over the tail of the dragon, nearly being flattened by the Zippleback. As she made it to the other side of the giant dragon, she sped up to catch up with the Deadly Nadder.

The dragon twisted its head slightly and blinked as it took notice of her. Shaking it's head, the dragon instantly accepted her to be a friend and not a foe. With that acknowledgment and approval, she leaped onto the back of the dragon and wrapped the rope around the neck. "Hiya!" she yelled, and the dragon took to the sky.

Two other Deadly Nadders from the heard followed her up into the sky, and started acting like her little personal army. She had to wonder what played a factor in this peculiar, unmotivated manner. There was no mistaking that the dragons knew what was happening and what needed to be done. Their intelligence continued to astound her.

Down below, she could see some of Kalem's Vikings getting into formation and preparing to fight. She could not allow them the opportunity to gain momentum. She directed her dragon to dive towards them. The dragon complied and the other dragons followed suit. She and her three dragon fleet swooped gracefully downwards towards the line of Vikings, who took immediate notice of them.

"Let's give them what we got!" Astrid said.

Her dragon fired a ball of flame directly at the Vikings. They stepped aside to avoid the ball of flame. When the other two dragons did the same, Kalem's Vikings had no choice but to retreat. With the Vikings on the run, Astrid continued to provide air support for her friends and family.

Kalem had Gertrude cornered. She was not a warrior Viking like the others, so she had no way to defend herself. Despite her inability to fight, she had done what she can to help her friends overthrow Kalem and his Vikings. However, her attempt to help had put herself into grave danger.

Kalem stepped closer, ready to grab hold of the young Viking girl when a giant red and black tail came crashing on top of him rendering him unconscious. Gertrude found herself looking up into the face of a familiar Monstrous Nightmare. Snotlout climbed down from the back of the dragon. "Hey Gertrude! Don't mind me, I'm just busy freeing the town and all; you know how it is."

For the first time that he could remember, she gave him a warm, grateful smile. Before he knew it, she showed him her gratitude with a gentle peck on the cheek. It was the first positive response he had ever gotten from her through all the advances he had made. He was so stunned by it, his mind went to mush. His face began to turn red and he was moving around like a drunken Viking. "Oh—wow—hey—hehehe—"

"Come on, lover boy, the job's not done yet!" Astrid shouted down from on top of her Deadly Nader. She had just happened to be nearby when she saw Snotlout come to the rescue.

"Oh, right!" Snotlout broke free from his love-drunk stupor and turned to face Gertrude. "I have to go be a hero, now. Let's keep in touch!"

Gertrude smiled as she watched Snotlout climb back up onto the back of his Monstrous Nightmare. "Snotlout!" she called out, stepping forward. "Be careful." Snotlout laughed as he and his dragon took to the sky.

* * *

Before long, the fight had come to an end, and the Vikings of Berk had retaken the village. Kalem and all of his Vikings were tied up and sat in the heart of the city, surrounded by Spitelout and the entire village of Berk.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut stood in front of Kalem who only scowled towards his feet. Seeing the brute tied up was entertaining to say the least for Tuffnut. "So how do you like confinement?"

Tuffnut got right up to his face and mockingly chuckled. Kalem turned his scowl up at him and swiftly head butted the boy in the nose. "Ow, I think you broke my nose!" he complained, cupping his right hand over his nose.

"It's an improvement," Kalem grumbled.

Ruffnut could only laugh at her brother's misfortune, even if Kalem had stolen her line. "You're such an idiot."

Astrid and Snotlout were with Spitelout who had just finished tightening the rope around the last of the rouge Vikings. "Well, that's the last of them."

Astrid looked around and was surprised to see that Hiccup was nowhere to be seen. She had been hoping for an opportunity to speak with him in private. "Has anyone seen Hiccup?"

"Yeah, he took his Night Fury and went off to catch up to the hunting party."

"I supposed he's going to warn his father about what Ivar had tried to do here," Spitelout shrugged.

"Actually, Ivar has nothing to do with this. It's Wolfbane! He means to kill the hunting party!"

"What!" Spitelout growled with a similar rage as his brother, Stoick. When provoked to anger, Spitelout shared many of the same aggressive tendencies as Stoick.

"It makes perfect sense. Wolfbane is tired of living in the shadow of the Ivar the Fearsome, so he wants to get rid of him, so he can become Viking chief." Some of what Bitwolf had said to her seemed to be the truth. The young Viking had lied to her by telling her the truth. She could not believe that she bought into his deceit.

"And he's gonna' do it using the Shadow Lord!" Snotlout added.

This new revelation even startled Astrid. It did more than just that, she found the news to be extremely alarming. "What? You just mention that now?" She snapped at him, punching him on the shoulder.

"Hey, ouch!"

"What was he thinking, going alone without us? We've got to go help him!"

"You kids go," Spitlout replied in full agreement with the young Viking girl. "We'll finish up here."


	18. Wolfbane and Dragon

**Chapter 18: Wolfbane and Dragon**

The two ships followed the Island's shore to the opposite end of the Island. It was very weird for Stoick not to be the one giving the orders. He could only stand and watch as Ivar gave all the commands. He felt like a stranger among his own family. The funny thing about this hunting party, was that more than half of it was made up of Berk's Vikings. This was not the make-up for this party that he would expect Ivar to come up with.

Even more surprising was that Gobber was on the same boat as he was. At least they were able to talk to each other, because everyone else was afraid to. Ivar seemed to make sure that the two of them were made to feel like outcasts.

"Perhaps the Shadow Lord deserves what's coming," Gobber said, desperately wanting to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Perhaps," Stoick replied. "But not like this. Gobber, what have I done? If I had only stood up for the dragons in the first place, I wouldn't be losing my son."

"I wouldn't call it quits just yet. Hiccup's very much as stubborn and hard headed as you. Ivar can push the boy only so much farther before he begins to push back. Ivar is right about one thing, though; Hiccup is destined for greatness. This may, very well, be that moment in time that Hiccup starts to shine."

"Aye, I hope you're right," Stoick replied.

Ivar walked past the two of them, making his way towards the rear of the ship. "Prepare to make land fall onto the shore. We're going the rest of the way on foot."

Stoick grumbled to himself. As he looked up into the sky, he noticed something strange flying in their direction. Gobber also seemed to notice the same thing. "What IS that?"

As it came closer, Stoick was able to identify exactly what he was seeing, and it did not bode well for any of them. "It's trouble."

"What's trouble?" Ivar overheard Stoick and Gobber's conversation.  
Ivar looked to the sky and was shocked to see Wolfbane floating in the sky. "What in Odin's name!"

All the Vikings were aghast at seeing a floating Viking over their heads. None one knew what to make of it, and that was exactly the response Wolfbane had hope to instill upon them. By the looks of their faces, the only ones that knew what was coming was Stoick and maybe even his friend Gobber. "Greetings, sir! I've been waiting for."

"I demand to know what's going on? You told me you knew where the Shadow Lord was."

"And I do," Wolfbane grinned. "He's right here."

A giant black dragon faded-in before everyone's eyes. No longer was Wolfbane merely 'floating on air' he was actually riding on the back of a Shadow Lord. This was beyond Ivar's comprehension. Not only was he baffled about how he was able to make peace with such an evil dragon, but he was outraged by his treachery. He was punishing Berk for their violating the Viking code, and now his most trusted Viking had done the same thing.

"You're 'Viking code' is outdated and pathetic. It's time for a new code, and a new leader. With you and Stoick gone, I will well be on my way of becoming Viking King.

"I knew this was bad," Stoick said softly to his friend, who was mesmerized by the sight of the Shadow Lord.

"You treacherous dog! I will have your head for this!"

"I seriously doubt that."

The Shadow Lord pulled his neck back, as he opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Green gas gathered around the back of his throat as he prepared to attack.

"Everybody in the water, now!" Stoick ordered, screaming as loud as he could.

Everyone on the boats eagerly obliged, and jumped overboard as the Shadow Lord showered a continuous stream of fire at the boats. Both boats quickly became engulfed in giant flames as the Vikings began to swim away. Wolfbane could only laugh at the pathetic sight of the legendary Ivar the Fearsome swimming for his life. "There is no escape. Get onto the land, and you'll become lunch for this magnificent beast. You can die with honor, or you can die like cowards. It makes no difference to me."

Stoick and Gobber found themselves in the dragon's aim. Taking a deep breath, the two of them, along with Ivar and few other Vikings, dunk their heads underneath the water just as the flames came whooshing towards them. Underneath the water, they looked up at the flames hitting the top of the water. There they waited and hoped that they could hold their breath longer than the dragon can release a stream of flames.

Luckily, the stream of flames paused, giving them a brief opportunity to catch their breath. The dragon swung his giant neck and tried again with another batch of Vikings, only to have the same thing happen. Stoick was at a lost at what to do. They could not keep this going for very long. All of their weapons were either destroyed in the burning boats or at the bottom of the sea.

The Shadow Lord returned his gaze towards Stoick, Gobber, and Ivar. From the look in the dragon's eyes, Stoick knew that the dragon set them as his primary target. The dragon took an even deeper breath, and Stoick knew that this time, there would be no escaping. They would either be forced to drown themselves or be burnt alive.

The familiar high pitched wailing, like that from a banshee, went off, distracting the dragon from delivering another stream of fire. The Shadow Lord knew exactly what made that nerve-shattering noise, and he began to franticly look from all directions.

A blue fire ball came, seemingly, out of nowhere to hit the dragon in the ribcage. The Shadow Lord let out a furious roar in reply. A Night Fury came shooting downward, from the blinding sun light. Riding on his back, was none other than Stoick's son, Hiccup.

"That's my boy!" Stoick cheered enthusiastically. Gobber was right, of course; his son was just as stubborn as he was, if not more so. The time had come for his light to shine, and show Ivar what he was truly capable of.

"A Night Fury?" Ivar again was taken back. Were his eyes deceiving him? "Your son is riding on a Night Fury?"

"Yes he is," he replied proudly. "Everyone, swim to the shore!"

All the Vikings complied, and the Shadow Lord and Wolfbane paid them no attention. They were no longer of any concern to either of them. There was no better time to get out of the water and escape to safety.

Seeing Hiccup and his Night Fury nearly caused Wolfbane to throw a fit of rage. Kalem had failed him, and allowed the boy to escape. His punishment was going to be severe; he was going to make sure of that. "There's your prize, dragon, just as I promised! Let's get him!"

The Shadow Lord bellowed out a gigantic roar. He was in full agreement with the Viking on his back. The very same Night Fury that he had encountered several days ago was here before him. It was time to satisfy his lust for blood, and kill his mortal enemy.

The Shadow Lord pulled up and headed straight for the Night Fury. It was percisly what Hiccup had wanted. He was flying horizontally, high above the water, in hopes to get them to follow him. "Okay, Toothless, they're on their way. Are you ready for this?"

Toothless let out an affirmative moan as he narrowed his eyes. Hiccup could see it in the Night Fury's face; the dragon had been looking forward to this rematch. Toothless may not be afraid, but Hiccup could not help and be anything but. Yes, this dragon was nowhere near the size of Green Death was, but this dragon was just as agile as Toothless, twice his size, and probably just as intelligent. What this was going to come down to was how well Wolfbane and the Shadow Lord would work together. Something told him that their pact was nowhere near as solid as the partnership he had with Toothless.

"See, boy, you're not the only one who can ride on dragons!" Wolfbane shouted up to him mockingly. "You and your Night Fury are no match against my Shadow Lord."

"We'll see about that," Hiccup said underneath his breath. When he looked down behind him, he saw the Shadow Lord quickly catching up. The dragon was already preparing to launch a fiery attack. "Here it comes!"

The Shadow Lord unleashed it's red-hot flames. Toothless peeled off to the left, his tail fin narrowly escaping the flames. That had been too close for Hiccup's comfort. He could not afford to underestimate the Shadow Lord's abilities, or he and toothless would not survive this encounter.

The Shadow Lord followed after Hiccup, determined not to lose sight of the Night Fury, knowing of the dragon's tendencies to use his surroundings to his advantage. "Go for the tail fin!" Wolfbane ordered, not daring to let go of the rope which he had wrapped around the dragon's neck to keep himself from falling off.

The dragon knew what he was referring to. The Night Fury had an artificial left tail fin. Burn a whole through it, and the Night Fury would not be able to stay air born. Pushing himself closer to Toothless' tail, he narrowly opened his mouth.

Hiccup, taking a quick glimpse back, saw the dragon preparing to do something, but the way he was opening his mouth told him that it was not a fire attack. Could the Shadow Lord also be one of those rare few dragons that can also spew acid? He tried to remember what Ivar said about the dragon; if the truth be told, he had not really been paying attention to the details he gave on the dragon. He was busy being disgusted by all of his stories of his past kills.

Not taking any chances, he used the pedals to ready the artificial tail fin, and then pulled up on the nap of the harness to signal Toothless to pull up sharply. Toothless got the signal and did just that. The Shadow Lord spat out a black acidic mist, but the sudden course change of Toothless, allowed the Night Fury to avoid the mist. Instead, the acidic mist evaporated in the air, but not before The Shadow Lord flew through it.

Luckily for Wolfbane, enough had evaporated so not to seriously injure him, but it was enough to cause his skin to burn slightly. "Aye! Watch it, dragon! Your scales may be acid proof, but I'm not!"

The Shadow Lord ignored the annoying Viking on his back and pulled straight up to follow after the Night Fury. For all the dragon cared, the Viking could fall off his back as he ascended. He was beginning to wonder if teaming up with the human had been a wise choice, after all.

As he flew vertically upward, the Night Fury had already vanished from his sights. He franticly looked in all directions, but the dragon knew that his nemesis had somehow already reached the clouds and was using them to stealth himself. The eerie wailing war cry of the Night Fury squealed from the clouds. The next thing the Shadow Lord knew, a blue fireball came breaking through the billowy white clouds and him across the side of the face. Roaring in fury and pain, the dragon had to look away for a moment, but it was all the Night Fury needed.

Toothless sliced through the clouds and flew right past the Shadow Lord. He came so close, that the tip of his wings nearly collided with Wolfbane, who had just barely ducked low enough to avoid it. Furious, he peeled off and commenced to continue his pursuit of his smaller cousin.

"Okay, Toothless, you know what to do. This worked with the dragon queen; let's see if it works here."

Toothless nodded and slowed down in speed to allow the Shadow Lord to come closer. Baring his large, sharp teeth, the larger dragon was hungrier now for blood than he ever was. Nothing mattered more than killing this retched Night Fury who continued to mock him. Gaining on his foe, the Shadow Lord prepared to make another attempt to engulf the dragon with a stream of fire. Opening his mouth, he built up a large amount of green, ignitable gas at the back of his throat.

"Now!" Hiccup shouted.

Toothless instantly spun around to face the Shadow Lord and shot a quick, fiery puff towards the inside of the dragon's mouth. As if he knew what the Night Fury was attempting, the Shadow Lord snapped his jaws shut, and took the hit in the face. The puff of flames in the face was nothing in compared to the damage that could have been done if it had entered his mouth and ignited the gas prematurely.

"Yep, he's smart!" Hiccup frowned, disappointed that his plan had not worked as well as it should have. "Okay, Toothless, time for plan B!"


	19. Flight to Survive

**Chapter 19: Fight to Survive**

Stoick was relieved to be finally getting out of the water. The Vikings have made it onto shore thanks to Hiccup's distraction. He and Gobber were helping the others out of the water while they took a head count. They had been very fortunate that none one seemed to have perished in the attack; everyone was accounted for and unharmed.

When the last Viking was on shore, Ivar made a straight path towards Stoick. "How? How did your son come to own a Night Fury?"

"With all due respect, it's not about the boy owning the dragon. What those two have goes beyond that. What they have is a friendship, and that's something Wolfbane probably doesn't understand. Dragons are good for other things other than trophies. They have helped us defeat other hostile dragons that we could not have otherwise defeated."

Ivar looked away, not sure what to make of Stoick's argument. Gobber could not hold back any longer, and he stepped forward to give his opinions. "Let's face it, Hiccup and Toothless is the only hope of defeating that giant black turkey. You may have killed some exotic beasts in your time, but there are some beasts, out there, that even you can't kill without the help of dragons, and that Shadow Lord is one of them!"

"Hey look!" One of the Vikings pointed to the sky. The three Vikings ceased their conversation to return their attention to the fight that was going on over their heads.

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless continued to bombard the Shadow Lord from all directions. Igniting the gas in the Shadow Lord's throat did not work; the dragon had know what was coming. Hiccup figured that the two dragons knew each other pretty well. Shooting flames into another dragon's mouth was an attack created solely by Toothless. It stood to reason, that it was natural fighting style of all Night Furies. If that was true, then it would explain how the Shadow Lord knew what was coming.

Keeping that in mind, Hiccup realized that it was going to take a fighting style that they had come-up with together, to defeat this dragon. There was one attack, in particular, that they used against Green Death that proved to be very fruitful, and he could only hope that it did so again.

While the Shadow Lord was looking for him, Toothless came slicing through the clouds and shot a blue fire-ball at the Shadow Lord's wings. The giant dragon was in complete disarray. He clearly was baffled by their method of attack. Hiccup hoped with a few good hits, they could weaken the dragon's wings. That was how they defeated Green Death. With some timely hits to the dragon queen's wings, they had become too weak to stop itself from crashing into the ground. The wings of the Shadow Lord, were much denser than the Green Death's, but perhaps with a continual pounding at them, they would begin to give way.

Toothless again made another swipe at the dragon, hitting the other wing. They were able to deliver one more hit before Wolfbane's rage started to get the better of him. "Come on you stupid dragon! You're not going to let a little boy, and a puny Night Fury, get the best of you!"

The Shadow Lord growled angrily, quickly losing his patience towards the Viking on his back. This new tactic from the Night Fury had taken the dragon completely by surprise, and up to this point, there had been no gained advantage by having a Viking partner.

The dragon had to steal the momentum from the Night Fury, and there was only one way he could do it. The dragon faded out until he was completely invisible. With the power of invisibility, he could quickly overtake the Night Fury and finish him off.

The Night Fury's war cry sounded again, as he was about to make yet another pass. Wolfbane frantically looked down to see the dragon, underneath him, invisible. The Shadow Lord went to stealth itself from the next attack, but there was only one problem with the plan.

The Night Fury unleashed another fire ball, and despite being invisible, the flames again made a precise hit upon the Shadow Lord's right wing. The dragon faded back into appearance. "You dumb beast! You may be able to turn invisible, but I can't!"

The Shadow Lord had had enough. With a terrifying rage, the dragon unleashed an uncontrollable breath of fire. He spun around to shoot the flames in all directions.

"Look out!" Hiccup warned. It took some fancy flying to avoid the flames, but at the same time, it caused them to cease their attack. It appeared that the Shadow Lord was no longer going to allow them another shot at his wings. "Well, plan B is now a bust."

By the time the Shadow Lord's fit of raged subsided, the dragon was breathing heavily, with and growling undertone. "That's better. Now, go..."

The dark dragon had enough of this Viking; he was more of a hindrance than an asset. Snapping his neck upward, he threw Wolfbane up into the sky. Wolfbane screamed, and his arms and legs flailed wildly until his body stopped ascending. As he began to descend, the weight of his body caused him to twist around until he was falling face first. That was when he knew his final fate. The Shadow Lord looked up and opened his mouth; its giant teeth were ready for their first taste of blood. "Nooooo!"

Hiccup had been looking back and saw the whole thing. At the very last second, he had to look away out of disgust. Sick to his stomach, it took everything he had not to throw up. That was when Hiccup knew that there was no more choice in the matter. That dragon was pure evil. There was no reasoning with a beast that had such a taste for blood. He had hoped to be able to find a way to reason with the dragon and get him to abandon Wolfbane, not eat him.

He was right about one thing; their partnership hot not been very strong. Wolfbane though he had himself a pet, and a slave. As it turned out, he was the slave. Despite all the evil that he did, he still felt sorry for him and now, even more so, for Bitwolf.

After swallowing his mouthful, The Shadow Lord turned his evil gaze towards Toothless and Hiccup. If the dragon had lips, Hiccup would swear that the dragon would be grinning. The dragon, once again, faded into invisibility, but this time, Hiccup and Toothless had no marker to tell them where the dragon was. "Oh, this is very, very bad!"

Hiccup was looking in all directions, looking for any sign of where the Shadow Lord may strike first. All he could see was a few billowy, white clouds in a sea of light blue. "Can you sense him?"

The Night Fury was also looking in all different directions. Sniffing the air, even he could not locate the invisible dragon. A cold chill traveled down his spine. The dragon was near; he could feel it. Without warning, the dragon reappeared above them, bringing down his large black tail down at Hiccup.

Toothless, in a desperate move to protect Hiccup, twisted around and took the hit on his ribcage. The impact sent him spiraling downward, out of control, but the Night Fury was quick to recover. Toothless shook the stars out of his head, but before he could take any other action, the Shadow Lord again appeared out of nowhere. This time, the tail came crashing down upon Toothless' head.

"Whoa!" Hiccup yelped as again, he found themselves spiraling out of control, down closer to the water. It took Toothless a little longer to recover this time, but they were still at a safe distance from the water. Hiccup could sense that the last attack had stunned Toothless. He still seemed shell shocked.

Hiccup looked to his left to see The Shadow Lord coming in for another pass, but this time, he had his mouth open, and was going for Toothless' neck. "Look out!"

Hiccup let up on the petal, to fold the artificial fin, which aided Toothless drop quicker from the sky. With the aid of the sudden incapability to sustain flight, Toothless bowed his neck downward to barley avoid the fangs of the dragon. The Shadow Lord flew past harmless by, after the failed attack, but was quick to turn itself invisible again.

Hiccup quickly pressed down on the petal again, to re-open the tail fin, and allow Toothless to remain airborne. Toothless put everything he had into stopping his descent. He expanded his wings as far as he could stretch them, and allow pockets of wind to grab hold him up long enough to regain full momentum of flight. "Now, where did he go?"

A bad feeling swept over him when he heard the sound of air suction. He looked forward and saw a cloud of green gas forming out of thin air. "Toothless, let's move!"

Toothless peeled off to the right just as a stream of flames came rushing at them from the green mist. The flames followed after them, and it took some swift and nimble flying to fly around the flames and not get burned.

Remaining invisible, the Shadow Lord ceased breathing flames. It was clear that the Night Fury was too agile for that kind of an attack. The time for playing with his prey was over. It was time to end this, and there was only one way to do so; he had to kill the little Viking riding on his back. That little Viking was intelligent, but there was a very pronounced weakness that he and the Night Fury shared; they depended on each other. If he killed the boy, then the Night Fury would not survive. Somehow, that funny looking left tail fin was tied into the actions of the human child. The fight would be over with the death of the human.

Unable to be seen by them, he flew around, high above the Night Fury, to position himself for the attack. Luck provided him the perfect opportunity as the Night Fury was ready to fly across his path. Timing his attack perfectly, the Shadow Lord nosedived, in an attempt to rip the boy from the dragon's back and swallow him whole. Opening his mouth, he raced downward for his prize.

"Where did he go?" Hiccup could not understand why the dragon had not made a move in so long. Did he fly away or was he setting up a trap?

Toothless had his eyes wide open, looking for the Shadow Lord in all directions. His dragon instincts finally warned him to look up. When he did, he saw the Giant black dragon appearing out of nowhere, nose diving straight for his back. Toothless suddenly realized that the dragon was going for Hiccup. Seeing the look on Toothless' face, Hiccup followed his line up sight upward to see the Shadow Lord coming right at him with an open mouth. "Oh no."

Toothless spun himself around, belly-side-up, just as the dragons collided. The two entangled dragons began to plummet downward towards the ocean. The two dragons wrestled in mid-air as the Shadow Lord made several temps to swing his neck around the Night Fury to get Hiccup. Hiccup screamed as he dodged each attack. The fight that the Night Fury was putting up only added to the Shadow Lord's difficulty.

Using his claws, he slapped Toothless across the face, stunning the Night Fury. Using his tail and claws, he finally managed to spin the Night Fury back around. Using his claws and tail to prevent the Night Fury from moving, Hiccup found himself looking up into the face of evil.


	20. United Against Evil

**Chapter 20: United Against Evil**

Hiccup looked up at the jaws of death over his head. The Shadow Lord had himself so wrapped up around Toothless, that the Night Fury could not do anything to help him. Toothless was whining and moaning as he coiled, bent, and did whatever he could think of doing to break out of the dragon's clutches; he was completely helpless to protect himself.

As the Shadow Lord started to go in for the kill, a blazing hot blaze of fire came splashing down on the back of his neck. Hiccup looked around the giant head in front of him to see Astrid and all of his friends riding on the backs of their dragons. The surprise attack caused the Shadow Lord to loosen his grip on Toothless, giving him the opportunity to spin around to protect Hiccup. Toothless fired a blue puff of fire into the dark dragon's face.

The Shadow Lord roared angrily, as he untangled himself from the Night Fury. The ocean water was quickly approaching; they had no time to waiste. Speedily, Toothless and Hiccup worked together to straighten themselves out. Toothless spread his wings once again, and was able to take flight, with his belly gently splashing across the water. They raced to ascend higher into the sky to meet with their friends.

"We thought you could use a hand," Astrid said. "It looks like we arrived just in time."

"A little earlier would have been just as great.," Hiccup grinned.

Astrid smiled briefly before her face became more remorseful. "Hiccup, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."

He could read it in her eyes; there was no need to clarify what she was apologizing for. He was just glad that she now knew the truth. "It doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is the Shadow Lord. We've got to deal with him."

"Say, whatever happened to Wolfbane, anyway? I thought he was gonna' make the Shadow Lord his dragon," Snotlout asked.

Hiccup did not have to say anything to answer his question. With a serious look on his face, it was clear to everyone in the group, what had happened. All of them grimaced in disgust. "Ick!" Tuffnut grunted.

"So tell us what to do?" Astrid said, quickly wanting to get her mind off of Wolfbane's fate and onto the task at hand.

"We've got to find a way to survive long enough to figure out how to defeat the Shadow Lord. He's too fast and strong for Toothless and myself to handle alone. Perhaps together, we can find a weakness."

* * *

Ivar was, yet again, surprised when more of Berk's young Vikings came swooping into the action. Stoick's son was not the only Viking to know how to ride on the backs of dragons. Along with the Night Fury, he could also spot a Gronckle, a two-headed Zippleback, a Deadly Nadder, and even a Monstrous Nightmare. It was hard enough to grasp that a Night Fury was willing to work with Vikings, but a Monstrous Nightmare? Ivar had though they had come straight from helheim, yet everything he was seeing contradicted everything he thought he knew.

Stoick could read the confusion in Ivar's face. He could not help but find it funny that the Legendary Ivar the Fearsome was now being schooled about dragons. "Now, you'll see what my son can really do."

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless was in the center of the line-formation that they formed as they approached the Shadow Lord. "Okay, we've got to keep him distracted so he doesn't turn invisible on us."

"Should we keep him annoyed?" Ruffnut asked. "That's our specialty."

"No it's not!" Tuffnut replied. "Everyone knows that I'm the most annoying."

"Okay, you win," Ruffnut conceded, seemingly reluctantly.

"That's right, I'm— hey!" Tuffnut protested, realizing that his sister had just tricked him.

"I don't think we can annoy the dragon any more than he is, already," Hiccup said looking towards the dragon, who stared back up at them and roared. "Just keep the dragon confused. Don't give him the chance to disappear."

Everyone nodded. With the plan understood by everyone, Hiccup and Toothless took the lead. Toothless released a puff of blue flames towards the Shadow Lord's face, but the dragon had managed to raise his head and neck far enough to avoid the flames. Quickly approaching the menacing dragon, Toothless and Hiccup pulled away at the very last second to swerve around the dragon.

Enraged by the challenge, he was ready to chase after the Night Fury when another puff of fire, from one of the other dragons, hit him in the side of the neck. Before he knew it, all the dragons, including the Night Fury, was swarming around him like annoying flies. He snapped at any dragon that came close to his face.

"Keep it up!" Those words just left Hiccup's lips when he heard the dragon make a gurgling noise from the back of his throat. "Everyone disperse! He's about to shoot acid!"

All the dragons immediately made for a safe distance from the Shadow Lord just as he unleashed his acidic black mist. He spun around in place, spewing the black mist in all directions. Hiccup and his group had narrowly avoided serious injury, but they had lost any serious momentum that they had acquired.

Ceasing his acidic attack, the Shadow Lord turned and started to nose dive towards the ocean. Hiccup did not have to say anything to his friends, they all followed him in pursuit of the dragon. He had no idea what the dragon was planning, or, even if he was trying to run away. If he WAS trying to escape, they had to prevent him from doing so. This fight was better fought far away from Berk. If the Shadow Lord escaped, who was to say that he might not attack the village?

They ripped through the last of the clouds before they could see the dark blue ocean waters. "What is he doing?" Hiccup muttered to himself. If he did not pull up soon, the Shadow Lord would crash into the water.

As the water quickly approached, the Shadow Lord began to fade out. Hiccup realized that the dragon was using his own plan against him, and was trying to get them to crash into the water. The dragon was smart and conniving. "Whoa! Whoa, everyone!"

The Shadow Lord vanished as Hiccup and the rest of his group pulled up from their dives. "Where'd he go?" Snotlout asked.

"Everyone, form a circle, with our backs on the inside. Be ready to scatter!" Hiccup ordered. They were close enough to the water that the Shadow Lord would not be able to ambush them from that direction. The only question was whether the dragon would come directing at them from the side or come swooping down from above; either way, they had a pair of eyes in all directions. This was the only way they had a shot at evading the dragon's next move.

Everyone directed their dragons into position, as the group of them hovered above the water. Another good thing about this was that if they had to, Hiccup's friends could leap off their dragons and into the ocean without injury. At least, that was one thing going for them.

They waited there for what felt like forever. Each agonizing second felt like an eternity, as they waited for the Shadow Lord to make the next move. Hiccup could feel his heart pounding on his chest, as if it was trying to escape from his chest. Drips of sweat rode down the sides of his face. "Come on, I know you're out there."

"Look out!" Astrid was the one to break the intense silence as the Shadow Lord came diving towards them from over their heads. The circle of dragons dispersed and everyone scattered in separate directions. The dragon dived right through where the center of their circle, and with a sudden agile twist, his tail became a violent whip. Ruffnut and Tuffnut could not get their two-headed Zippleback far enough away to avoid the tail; it pounded into the ribcage of their dragon, knocking both off them off the necks of the dragon.

The twin Vikings fell the short distance and splashed into the water. Within two seconds, both their heads popped out of the water, with stunned looks on their faces. Their Zippleback flew off to avoid any further confrontation with the evil dragon.

With the Shadow Lord's attention elsewhere, Astrid dared to take a few seconds to hover over the two young Vikings. "Swim to the shore. You'll be safe there."

"No problem, I'm like a fish in the water," Tuffnut replied.

"No you're not; you don't even like to take baths," Ruffnut challenged.

"That's not true!"

The two Vikings continued to bicker as they swam for the shore where all the adult Vikings were standing and watching the fight. With them swimming to safety, Astrid could return to the fight, but she was unaware that the fight was coming towards her.

"Astrid, look out!" Snotlout warned.

Astrid looked behind her to see the Shadow Lord quickly coming up from behind her. She urged her dragon to fly faster, but it was already too late; the dragon was about to overtake her. The shadow Lord opened its jaws in preparation for the kill when another blue blast of flames hit the dragon in the back of the head. The dragon looked behind him to see Toothless and the other dragons chasing him down.

With some gentle prodding, Astrid convinced her dragon into doing a forward loop to allow the dragon to pass underneath her. When her loop was completed, she found herself behind the Shadow Lord, and flying next to Hiccup and Toothless.

"Impressive!" Hiccup commented on her fancy flying. Certain dragons had body structures that allowed them to do a tight, mid-air loop like that, but a Deadly Nadder was not one of those breeds. They were swift fliers when they had to be, but flying upside was way beyond their comfort levels. What Astrid just did proved that she was an excellent aviator.

"I've learned from the best."

Hiccup smiled at the compliment, but then quickly returned his focus on chasing the dragon. The Shadow Lord tried some slick flying patterns to try to shake them, but he and his friends managed to stay on his tail.

The dark dragon looked back at the other dragons following him, and found himself getting annoyed. He managed to get one dragon and two Vikings out of the picture, but they were still proving to be resilient. It was time to take this fight higher into the sky. He was leading his pursuers in circles, refusing to lose sight of land. After he was done with them and the Night Fury, he had full intentions of going after the group of Vikings that foolishly looked onto their fight. As he continued to fly in random patterns, he started to elevate higher and higher from the water. Before long, they were high above the water once more; exactly where he felt more comfortable and in-control.

As he was dodging more fiery attacks from the pursuing dragons, and rising to the sky, a plan had formulated in the dragon's mind. If he did this correctly, he could really do some damage to the Night Fury. At this height, the time had finally come to attempt it. The Shadow Lord turned himself invisible to prepare and position himself.

"Nuts!" Hiccup growled, as he waved everyone back to halt their pursuit. This dragon was toying with them, there was no mistaking that, but what was the dragon trying to accomplish?

The group hovered where they were. While the dragon was invisible, it was not safe for them to be on the move or separated. The frustration was already starting to show in Snotlout. "This dragon is nothing more than a giant coward."

No one responded; they were too busy looking around for where the dragon may appear next. An eerie silence frayed all of their nerves. The only sound was the rushing of the wind all around them. Fishlegs was the most nervous, but he was doing his best to hide it. They were high up in the sky with a dragon that can turn itself invisible. Even more terrifying for the hefty young Viking was the ocean below. Even worse, he was on top of a Gronckle, who had a nasty habit of falling asleep during battles. It happened to him half a year ago during the battle with Green Death. Loud noises also seemed to contribute to the Gronckle's handicap.

As he was shooting glances in as many directions as he could, he though he heard a soft grunt coming from behind him. Was that his mind playing tricks on him, or was it the wind? He cautiously turned his dragon around to see nothing there, at first. When he squinted his eyes, however, he could swear that he saw a faint, shadowy outline. That shadow soon became solid, and the Shadow Lord was there, flying in front of him.

The young Viking was now face to face with the giant, vile-looking monster with a blood-thirsty look on his face. Without warning, he let out an ear-deafening roar. The dragon was so close, that Fishlegs could smell the putrid smell of his breath. Even before the Shadow Lord had a chance to turn itself invisible again, the Gronckle began to lose control. "Oh no!"

The Gronckle descended as if it was drunk. The dragon would free-fall for a hundred feet, and then fight to stay in the air. "Don't fall asleep! Don't fall asleep! Don't fall aslee!." Fishlegs pleaded all the way down. The Gronckle stopped just over the ocean water where, at last, he succumbed to the sleep, and his eyes fluttered shut. "Oh look, he fell asleep."

The dragon and Fishlegs fell into the water, where the dragon immediately reawakened after the shock of the cold water took effect. The Gronckle flew out of the water and away towards the land, forgetting about Fishlegs. The boy waved franticly, struggling to keep afloat. "Somebody help! I can't swim!"

The Shadow Lord had turned himself invisible again, but Hiccup could not stay and do nothing while his friend was drowning. "Come on, Toothless!" Hiccup pressed down hard on the pedal and leaned forward, as they nosedived towards the ocean water. Perhaps it was a bad idea to leave the group the way he did, but the only thing he could think about was to save Fishlegs.

As the water grew near, Toothless angled himself directly towards Fishlegs. They had to do this right the first time, because Hiccup had a gut feeling that this was the only chance he was going to get. Toothless readied his front claws, exercising them as he made the dive towards the boy. Fishlegs held his arms up as Toothless swooped by and used both of his front claws to grab the chubby Vikings underneath his arms.

"Did you get him?"

Toothless moaned an affirmative and looked down to see the young Viking between his two claws. Facing backwards, Fishlegs looked over his shoulder and waved his arms slightly to show that he was alright. With the Night Fury's claws underneath his arms, there was very little movement he could make with his arms. When he looked forward, he could not see much with Toothless' body and tail in the way. When Night Fury's tail waved, he caught a brief glimpse of the Shadow Lord catching up quickly.

"Huh, Hiccup! Look behind you!" He shouted, hoping he could hear him over the wind.

Hiccup could hear Fishlegs shout something from beneath Toothless, but he could not make out exactly what he said. The familiar feeling of danger washed over him; it was a feeling that he has been getting every time the Shadow Lord has been making a move. He looked around to see that his gut instincts were accurate once again. The Shadow Lord was catching up to them, and this time, he was going in for the kill. With Fishlegs in Toothless' claws, there was no way they could defend themselves from the attack. "So that's what you've been planning. Clever dragon!"

The dragon was proving to be even more intelligent than Hiccup had anticipated. He had made the mistake and underestimated him, despite all of his best efforts not to. Looking ahead, the shore was still too far away; they were not going to make it to land before the dragon overtook them, and perhaps it was good that they didn't. The last thing Hiccup wanted to do was to put his father and the rest of the adults in jeopardy.

They had no choice, but to drop Fishlegs back into the water and fight with the Shadow Lord. Perhaps Astrid would have been luck getting Fishlegs out of the water and to the shore. The trick was that he had to wait until the Shadow Lord was just a bit closer. The dragon might change his mind or turn invisible if he made the move too early.

He was ready to tell Toothless to let Fishlegs go when Snotlout and his Monstrous Nightmare tackled the Shadow Lord. The two dragons snapped at each other as the Monstrous Nightmare entangled himself with the larger dragon. This was the perfect distraction that Hiccup needed. His cousin must have seen that he was in trouble; either that or Astrid did, and told Snotlout to go help. Knowing Snotlout, he assumed the latter to be the case.

Taking advantage of the situation, Hiccup and Toothless sped as fast as they could towards the land. As they approached land, the adult Vikings moved out of the way as Toothless hovered over the shore, long enough to place Fishlegs safely onto the ground. When Hiccup saw his friend stand up onto his feet, he knew he was okay and could return back to the battle. Glancing over to the battle between Snotlout, Astrid, and the Shadow Lord, he knew that he needed to get back pronto.

"Okay Toothless, let's show this dragon what we're made of."


	21. Hiccup's Plan

**Chapter 21: Hiccup s Plan**

The Shadow Lord had quickly regained the upper hand over the Monstrous Nightmare and the Deadly Nadder. Astird and Snotlout had their dragons pounce on the larger dragon to buy Hiccup time to get Fishlegs to safety. Unfortunately, their distraction was starting to turn against them.

Hiccup saw the dark dragon gaining the momentum, and urged Toothless to push himself as fast as he could to get back into the fight. The Shadow Lord had taken out two of their dragons and three members of their group. So far, they've been lucky that none of them have been killed, and he was determined to keep it that way. He was also determined not to have Astrid or Snotlout taken out of the fight, either. He could not afford to lose the number's advantage he had over the dragon.

The Shadow Lord broke free from the Monstrous Nightmare's entanglement, and he bore his sharp, pointed teeth towards it. The dragon had fire in his eyes, and death on his mind. He twisted himself into position, and swung his tail like a whip. Astrid and Snotlout saw the attack coming and was able to fly away to a safe distance. However, Hiccup did not see what the dragon was in the middle of doing until it was too late. He had arrived only to have the massive tail come crashing into Toothless' rib cage.

"Whoa!" Hiccup yelled at the same time as Toothless howled as they spiraled downward. Hiccup leaned into Toothless's neck as hard as he could, as he closed his eyes to keep himself from getting dizzy. He had no time to do anything else as they hit the water like a rock.

Astrid saw Hiccup and Toothless hit the water; and it was, as if, she had hit the side of a mountain. The way they hit the water was sickening. If it was just Hiccup who landed in the water, there would be no doubt that he could have survived the fall, but Hiccup hit the water, back first, with the full weight of a Night Fury on top of him. There was a better chance that he could have been killed upon impact, and the thought of Hiccup dead was like a bucket of icy cold water being poured over her head. "Hiccup!"

* * *

The wind was knocked out of him, but that was the extent to his injuries. The impact had unlatched his artificial foot from the saddle's pedal, and now he found himself holding his breath under water. He looked over to see Toothless coming to his senses. He looked at him with his yellowish eyes as to ask what the next move was.

The truth was that Hiccup had no idea what to do; the Shadow Lord had outsmarted them in every way up to this point. The only thing he knew was that they could not stay hidden under the water. Toothless may be able to survive underwater for an extended time, but he couldn't.

Hiccup noticed that something below had caught Toothless' attention. He looked down into the blue depths of the ocean. At first, he could see nothing but an endless abyss, but then he could faintly make out a shadowy outline making its way up from the depths. Eight tentacles were swerving through the water like sea serpents.

Could this be the mythical Monstrous Strangulator that attacked Ivar's ships? He remembered hearing stories about this sea dragon when he was younger. This dragon lived in caves, and had eight tentacles like a squid. If he remembered the stories correctly, this beast was virtually blind. Based on the movement of this dragon, that rumor seemed to be true. The dragon was attracted to all the commotion up above the water.

An idea suddenly dawned on him; he now knew a way to take down the Shadow Lord. It was a long shot, and if it failed, they would have to face the wrath of two dragons instead of just one. It was a risk that he was willing to take. If things went wrong, there was no negotiating with the Shadow Lord, but there was a chance that the Monstrous Strangulator might be intelligent enough to be reasoned with. With his air running out, he had no choice but to make the move.

* * *

The Shadow Lord searched the water for the Night Fury. The dragon had not yet reemerged, and he had begun to wonder why. Unable to see anything, the dragon had to bring an eye right up to the edge of the water. As he did, an image of the Night Fury's face appeared through the water with a giant grin on his face.

Puzzled by seeing this image instead of his own, he brought his left eye even closer to inspect the image. As he did, a blue puff of fire speared out of the water and hit him right in the eye. The Shadow Lord roared in agony as he backed away from the water. That gave Toothless the opportunity to zip out of the water and take to the sky.

Astrid's heart leaped the second she saw Hiccup and Toothless coming out of the ocean and flying towards her and Snotlout. For the briefest moment, she had feared the worst. Hiccup may be skinny, and a little awkward, but he definitely had the Viking determination flowing through his veins.

Hiccup and Toothless, drenched to the bone, made their way towards the others. "For a minute there, I thought you were food for the fishes." Snotlout welcomed them with his normal sarcastic charm.

Astrid scowled towards him; telling him that she was not in the mood for his sarcasm. She had come uncomfortably close to losing someone she really cared about. Snotlout's humor was not a welcomed at this moment.

When Astrid returned her gaze towards her, Hiccup could not help but feel that he was in for another bruised shoulder for scaring her like that. That was an issue that they would have to work out. Hiccup quickly took charge. "Yeah, that was a little close for comfort."

"So what now? The dragon's outsmarting us at every turn," Astrid asked.

"I know what to do. I'm going to get the Shadow Lord to chase me. I need you two to cause as much commotion as you can above the water. Hit the water with as much fire as your dragons can muster."

"What's that going to accomplish?" Snotlout replied with a raised eyebrow.

Looking downward, Hiccup could see the Shadow Lord already coming to his senses and was ready to take the momentum in the fight. If this plan was to work, Hiccup could not allow the dragon to start dictating the direction of this fight any longer. "No time to explain; just do it, and be careful!"

"Right," Astrid agreed. She had no idea what he was thinking, but she trusted him with her life. He may not look it, but he had a natural talent for strategic warfare. What he lacked in physical strength, he more than made up for with intelligence.

Hiccup and Toothless swooped downward towards the Shadow Lord. The first thing he had to do was to get his attention and then get him to follow him. He had to buy his friends time to attract the Monstrous Strangulator to the top. Getting the dragon's attention proved easy after performing a provocative fly-by across his line of sight. The Shadow Lord let out a frustrated roar before chasing after them.

"Okay, he's taken the bait. Let's keep him distracted for awhile." Toothless gave an affirmative moan and pushed himself to fly as fast as he could.

When the Shadow Lord followed after Hiccup and Toothless, Astrid and Snotlout had an opening to do their job. "Okay, here's our chance. Let's go!"

"Alright, I hope he knows what he's doing," Snotlout muttered.

The two of them swooped down on their dragons towards the water. Astrid led the way, urging her Deadly Nadder to unleash a fire ball at the water. Snotlout followed, as his Monstrous Nightmare unleashed a river of fiery magma. Together, they continued to bombard the water with fire.

* * *

On shore, the Vikings were watching the battle with great intent. The Shadow Lord was chasing after Hiccup while the two remaining young Vikings were shooting fire at the water. Stoick knew his son well enough to know when he was seeing another one of his crazy ideas, but this one was crazier than the rest.

"What are they doing?" Ivar said. When it came to battling a deadly dragon, he was the best strategist around. What he was seeing seemed to be nothing more than foolish child's play with a dragon.

"I don't know," Stoick admitted. "I do know that my Son is up to something."

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless were having difficulty keeping ahead of the Shadow Lord. It appeared that the dragon was faster than he had let on before. The dragon must have been playing with them this whole time, but now, things were different; the dragon had enough of the games. Looking back at the Shadow Lord, Hiccup could see the hatred and the determination in the dragon's eyes.

Working together, Hiccup and Toothless swerved to avoid being caught in the snapping jaws of the Shadow Lord. When swerving stopped working, they flew up towards the sky. They did whatever they could, to buy Astrid and Snotlout time to do their job.

While Hiccup and Toothless were distracting the giant black dragon, Astrid and Snotlout continued to disturb the water with fire. Snotlout was quick to lose his patience at this seemingly pointless task. "I don't get this; what are we supposed to be accomplishing? My dragon is quickly reaching his shot limit."

Astrid had no response. Her dragon was reaching his limit as well. However, Hiccup had his reasons, and she had come to trust him implicitly. As she urged her dragon to unleash another breath of fire at the water, she began to notice movement underneath the water. Whatever it was, it was coming up to the surface with great haste. "Something's coming up! Lookout!"

They scattered away from the water as eight giant tentacles and a large tail stretched out from the water. This new giant dragon let out a terrifying squeal as he waved his tentacles in the air.

"Whoa!" Snotlout laughed, as he and his Monstrous Nightmare hovered safely out of the reach of the giant dragon. "That is the ugliest dragon I've ever seen! It's like the second dragon of Grendel, or something!"

* * *

All of Vikings on shore gasped at the sight of the tentacles reaching out of the water off in the distance. There were few who had ever seen a dragon like this. "What in blazes is that thing?" Gobber asked out loud, although not expecting anyone on the Island to know.

However, there was one among them who did know of this dragon. "That's a Monstrous Strangulator! That's the beast that attacked us on the way here!" Ivar exclaimed.

"A Monstrous Strangulator?" Stoick repeated underneath his breath. It was a mythical dragon that most wrote off as a bed time story. It was only when Ivar recently arrived to Berk when Stoick started to believe that there might be truth to their existence. Ivar had come to the village, and claimed he was attacked by the beast. A part of him did not believe him, but now, he was seeing the beast for his own eyes. "Legend says that they are supposed to live in caves, not under water."

"Aye," Ivar replied. "I've heard the same thing, but perhaps there is an underwater cave nearby. What I'm more interested in knowing is what your boy is thinking? Now he has two dragons to worry about."

Stoick could not give him an answer. He had no idea what his son was up to, or how his son even discovered the monster. He could only hope that his Son had not made things worse for all them by bringing this monstrosity to the surface.

* * *

"There he is!" Hiccup said, looking down towards the tentacles and tail flailing in the air. "Are you ready, Toothless?"

Toothless looked up at him with the corner of his eye and moaned. The dragon knew what the plan was, and was ready to give it a try. Toothless was starting to tire, and was willing to try anything, at this point.

"Here we go!"

Toothless made a sudden dive straight down towards the water. The Shadow Lord followed in pursuit, unleashing a stream of fire at the Night Fury as he did. The Night Fury manuvered around the flames as he continued his dive

As the water approached, Toothless straightened out until he was flying with his belly nearly slicing through it. Hiccup looked back to confirm that the Shadow Lord was still behind them. The dragon was taking the bate, but he was a little too close for Hiccup's comfort; his jaws were just about close enough to grab Toothless' tail fins. "Hold on, Toothless. Just a little longer!"

They pushed hard towards the tentacles. As they did, every nerve in Hiccup's body was on edge. Everything rode on this plan. If this did not work, the Shadow Lord would only get angrier, but he would have unleashed another menace. Fighting the Shadow Lord was hard enough, but taking out two dragons would be impossible. Everyone's lives were on the line here, and he could feel that pressure weighing on his shoulders.

"Wait…" Hiccup warned. For this to work, this had to be timed perfectly. He was basing the timing on the speed in which the tentacles were moving. If they acted too early, the Shadow Lord will have time to abort, and survive.

They were just about in the reach of those tentacles when Hiccup gave the order. "Now!"

On cue, Toothless fired a puff of blue flames at the tentacles. Letting out a painful squeal, the Monstrous Strangulator parted his tentacles with just enough room for Toothless to slickly maneuver through to avoid touching them and the dragon's tail.

They had made it safely through; thanks to Toothless' small stature. The Shadow Lord's eyes widen, when he saw the tentacles in front of him, coming for him. He had traveled too close behind Toothless to know what the Night Fury was doing, and now it was too late for him to manuver around the tentacles. The tentacles snapped towards him, mistaking him for the aggressor.

A tentacle wrapped itself around one of his hind legs. The Shadow Lord fought with the tentacle and went to chew on it to break free when another tentacle wrapped around his neck. The Monstrous Strangulator began to chock the dragon while wrapping another tentacle around the snout to prevent it from shooting fire. The dragon used his remaining tentacles to strategically strengthen his grip on the dragon.

Fully caught into it's grip, the Shadow Lord whined as he jerked around, desperate to break free as it began to slowly pull him into the water. He cried in desperation as his left wing and his entire left side were now in the water. He flapped his right wing wildly to the best of his ability in vain hope of breaking free. The Monstrous Strangulator's grip on him was too strong.

Hiccup looked back to see the pleading eyes of the Shadow Lord. The dragon cried, and begged for help. Hiccup could not help but be heart broken by the dragon's desperate pleas. Everything inside of him wanted to help the dragon, but he knew that the Shadow Lord was pure evil, and would not return his act of kindness. He could do nothing but watch the dragon struggle for his life.

Seeing that the giant black dragon was putting up a strong fight, the Monstrous Strangulator raised its poisonous stinger at the tip of his tail and commenced trying to sting the dragon. When he found that the dragon's scales were too strong, he began searching the dragon for weaknesses by jabbing his stinger. Finally, it was successful when it was able to sting the dragon in right wing. The poison took almost immediate effect, as the dragon ceases his moaning and struggling. The dragon's eyes were fluttering uncontrollably.

The fight in the Shadow Lord quickly diminished, and the Monstrous Strangulator pulled the dragon under the water. The Shadow Lord quickly disappeared under the water. With the dragon now fully submerged, the Monstrous Strangulator had no further problems in pulling the dragon down to the bottom of the ocean, and to his underwater cave, where it would enjoy a large feast.

* * *

"He's done it!" One of Berk's Vikings yelled in triumph. All the Vikings, on the beach, cheered in victory. All except for Ivar, who stood there in complete shock. He had just seen the impossible: a young boy has defeated an invincible dragon. Never in his wildest dreams did he think such a thing could or would happen. The boy was much more than he appeared on the outside. The boy, indeed, had a heart of a warrior.

* * *

When the water became peaceful once again, that was when Hiccup dared to believe that the fight was over. The Shadow Lord had met his fate. It was an ending he wished he could have avoided for the dragon, but in the end, the dragon had chosen his own fate.

"We did it, Toothless," Hiccup said with a heavy sigh of relief. The noise, Toothless made, told him that he was also glad that it was over.

Hiccup looked back to see all the Vikings on the Island cheering. He was too far away to, physically, see them, but he knew his father and Ivar had been watching the fight. Most of the conflicts that Hiccup found himself in had been resolved, except one; and that was his conflict with Ivar the Fearsome. With everything out of the bag, it was time to bring that conflict to a close; he could only hope that his father will stand behind him this time.

He flew Toothless to the island where the adults were more than willing to clear space for them to land. Toothless carefully landed in the clearing among the Vikings, folded his wings, and drooped them to the ground to allow Hiccup to dismount.

After getting his artificial foot unlatched, he jumped off Toothless' back only to find himself surrounded by Vikings who were quick to give him pats on his back. It was not long before his father had come out of the crowd to great him. "You did it, my boy! You saved us all!" he said enthusiastically before embracing him in a bear hug which nearly cut off the air to his lungs. "I had no doubt about it!"

"Thanks, dad!" he managed to reply after his father released him from his embrace.

Stoick stepped aside to allow Ivar to step forward. Hiccup could not read the expression on his face to get a feeling about what he was thinking. After everything he had just seen, Hiccup could only hope Ivar was more open to the dragons. Of course, knowing him, he could just as easily be furious at him for being the one to defeat the Shadow Lord. "Well boy, that was something else, though I am still trying to figure out how you were able to make friends with a Night Fury."

"Let me show you," Hiccup said stepping aside to allow Toothless to step up. "Ivar the Fearsome, meet , stretch out your hand and touch his nose; he won't bite."

Ivar was reluctant, but his pride would not allow him to turn down this challenge from the young hero. Ivar refused to show fear to anyone. He cautiously stretched out his right hand towards the Night Fury's face. He was half way there when Toothless' eyes narrowed and he let out a threatening growl.

Ivar pulled his hand back in fear of losing his hand. When he did, Toothless's mood immediately lightened-up and the dragon made some sort of coughing sound. After a few seconds, it dawned on Ivar that the dragon was not actually coughing, but laughing. Never in his life did he even imagine a dragon capable of laughing.

"Uh, sorry about that; Toothless is a bit of a prankster."

Toothless grinned before closing his eyes and bowed his head further down to show submission. Ivar tried once again to place the palm of his hand on the tip of the dragon's nose and this time, Toothless allowed him to do it. It was a feeling like no other for Ivar. This wasn't the first dragon he had touched; he ended up killing those dragons that he had touched, soon after. This was completely different, though. This was the first time he actually paid attention to everything that came with the sensation of touching the cool scales of a dragon. "Magnificent creature! I never knew that a dragon could have such a personality. I am Viking enough to admit that I've been wrong about dragons, and about you, young Hiccup."

"Hiccup!" Astrid's voice came from amongst the crowd of Vikings.

Hiccup turned to see her pushing through the adults. When she had broken through, she ran into him, nearly knocking him down in the process, and hugged him. Hiccup was stunned by the open display of emotions. Astrid was not one to show emotions to anyone. She ended up surprising him again when she gave him a passionate kiss across the lips.

Hiccup found himself blushing as all the Vikings chuckled. A sudden change came over Astrid in the middle of the kiss, and she broke it off abruptly. She was blushing, as she quickly regained her composure.

"So, you must be his g—"

Hiccup was about to interrupt him before he used the word 'girlfriend'. Astrid hated being called that and who knew how she would react to Ivar calling her that. However, she managed to beat him to the punch. "I'm his girlfriend."

Hiccup looked at her with a surprised, but pleasant look. To hear her call herself his girlfriend was like a dream come true. After everything that had happened, something had changed inside of her. Perhaps, their relationship was arriving to a new level.

The moment those thoughts entered his mind, she punched him on the shoulder. "Ow!"

"Don't let it go to your head."


	22. The Sendoff

**Epilogue: The Sendoff**

The first order of business after returning to Berk was to incarcerate the treasonous Vikings in a safe location. The next thing everyone did was partake in a hearty feast in celebration. After the feast, it was time to bring the dragons back into the village. Within a few days, things were back to normal in Berk until the day came when Ivar announced that he and his tribe were to depart.

When the day had come for he and his tribe to head home, Hiccup was surprised how solemn the event turned out to be. In the past few days, Hiccup had grown to respect Ivar very much. Ivar had begun to treat him as his equal, probably more so than Hiccup deserved at his young age. Now, he felt like a close friend was leaving for a long journey.

Hiccup was joined by Astrid, as well as Gobber and Stoick down at the docks to bid farewell. "Well, our ships are loaded, and the traitorous Vikings have been loaded," Ivar said. "However, there's still a few issues that must be addressed before I go."

"And what's that?" Stoick asked.

"The first is with you, young Hiccup. I've been wrong about many things about you, except for one thing: you are indeed destined to greatness. Generations from now, Viking mothers will be telling their younglings bedtime stories of you and your adventures. From this day forward, I declare that you shall be known as Hiccup the Horrendous."

Hiccup's eyes widen at the official declaration. To be given a terrifying title to their name was an honor that only the best Vikings received. Vikings believed that terrifying names scared the evil spirits away. To receive such a title was an immediate demand for respect and honor. It was an honor usually given to adult Vikings who have become their village's hero. Hiccup had to be the youngest Viking ever to be given such an honorary title. To be given such a terrifying name by a fellow legendary Viking, like Ivar the Fearsome, was the ultimate honor. By Ivar's declaration, he had given Hiccup the greatest show of respect than any Viking could show towards another.

Stoick patted his son on the back, who was at a loss for words. "Oh wow! I mean…thank you, sir!"

"That is amighty fine name fitting for a Viking, who rides upon a Night Fury," Gobber agreed.

Hiccup looked over at Astrid who smiled back at him, with a slight tint of red in her face. "I think it's perfect."

"Now for my final order of business," Ivar said as he looked to his right and waved his right hand to call over another Viking. One of Ivar's Viking's approached the group, pushing the young Bitwolf forward who reluctantly obeyed. The boy was emotionless, and refused to look anyone in the eye, as of late. "You and your father tried to kill me, and that will not go unpunished."

"Aw, the boy just lost his father," Gobber replied. "Perhaps that should be punishment enough."

"No," Ivar said bitterly. "This boy's punishment has only begun. I do not take kindly to this type of betrayal. You are, hereby, banished from our home. You are no longer welcomed at our village. Instead, you shall become a member of the tribe of Berk. This is your new home, boy."

Bitwolf remained emotionless, almost as if he had not heard anything which was being said to him. "While you are here, you shall undergo dragon training, where you shall be taken under the wing of Hiccup the Horrendous." Ivar looked over to Hiccup. "Will you accept this boy as your student. He is to relearn everything he knows about dragons, and I expect you to help him become a Viking of Berk."

Hiccup was surprised by Ivar's punishment. While it must have seemed harsh to the young Viking, Hiccup found it uncharacteristically compassionate. The boy had no living family members left at home, so Ivar had decided to leave him here at Berk, where he could establish new friends and family. Of course, Ivar had to maintain his image of ruthlessness. It was amazing how he could do an act of compassion and present it in a ruthless manner.

Of course, it was going to take time for Bitwolf to fit in again here, after everything he had done. However, Hiccup no longer had to feel threatened by him, since Bitwolf could no longer compete with Hiccup's status with his new title. Hiccup was also certain that his friends would come to forgive Bitwolf...in time.

"I have no problems with that."

"Good," Ivar replied. "With that, my business here is done."

"Farewell, Ivar the Fearsome." Stoick said, stretching out his muscular hand towards him.

"Farewell, Stoick the Vast. You and your people are welcomed to our village any time."

"And the same goes for your village."

* * *

Ivar's ships had set sail back to home. Hiccup and Astrid ran as fast as they could from the docks all the way back up to the village where they met up with their friends and all of their dragons. Hiccup's artificial foot made the journey up the wooden walkway longer than it should have taken. The ships were well on their way by the time they made it all the way to the top. Once they reached the top, Astrid jumped onto the back of her Deadly Nadder and Hiccup unto Toothless' back.

"Okay everyone, let's go!"

Upon Hiccup's signal, all the young Viking, on the backs of their dragons, took to the sky and flew out over the ocean. The young Vikings flew by the departing ships where Ivar looked up and wave up at Hiccup.

Hiccup returned the wave as he and his friends flew their dragons in a pattern of a circular knot. This symbol represented peace and unity between their two villages. The dragons skillfully navigated in such precision, that even Ivar had to be impressed how they managed to do it without crashing into each other. This was Hiccups sendoff. Somehow, he had a strong hunch that their paths would meet once again.

* * *

**_Thank You for taking the time to read. This August or September, the adventure will be continuing in the story: HTTYD: The Outcast Lands_**


End file.
